Who defines the ethics of artificial intelligence? By: Ingrid Motta
Ingrid Motta Ph.D .
CEO at @BrainGame Central | Ph.D. in Communication and Strategic Thinking | IWF Board Advisor | Speaker | LinkedIn Top Voice | UNESCO Women4EthicalAI
CEO at @BrainGame Central | Ph.D. in Communication and Strategic Thinking | IWF Board Advisor | Speaker | LinkedIn Top Voice | UNESCO Women4EthicalAI
These days, France is holding the AI Summit in Paris, a key event to discuss the governance and regulation of artificial intelligence (AI), reaffirming the urgent need to establish ethical principles for the development and implementation of AI at a global level. In parallel, Google confirmed its decision to remove the restriction on the use of AI for the technological advancement of weapons, giving a clear example of how the ethics of AI are being defined by corporate and geopolitical interests rather than by universal principles.
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It is clear that despite international efforts to regulate AI, technological powers continue to prioritize their own interests. The United States, China, and the European Union have divergent approaches: China reinforces state control, the U.S. encourages innovation with minimal restrictions, while the EU tries to establish regulations based on risk levels. So, who defines the ethics of artificial intelligence?
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Big Tech has the political and economic power to impose its own rules and adapt its business models so that independent developers and developing countries cannot actively participate in the AI ecosystem. Far from democratizing access to this technology, it further consolidates the centralization of technological power in a kind of oligopoly disguised as regulation, where the principles of equity, non-discrimination and gender equality are exempt from binding implementation mechanisms, and recommendations of transparency, ethics and respect for human rights can simply be ignored.
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I also reiterate what I wrote in my previous column (Open Source: The Trojan Horse of the 21st Century): the so-called "open source" continues to be used to justify access to AI as a misleading narrative of Big Tech. These companies attract developers and governments to their platforms under seemingly free licenses, when in practice the data processing and storage infrastructure is still monopolized by technology leaders with the ability to establish their own ethical principles, and define who can actually participate in the AI ecosystem. Not only that, but they also determine how the labor market will be transformed, displacing people and leaving entire countries behind in the new digital economy.
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The reconfiguration of the labour market already requires the learning of new skills and equitable access to training in emerging technologies.? The Inter-American Development Bank estimated in 2024 that approximately 980 million jobs globally would be affected by AI, which would represent 28% of the global workforce. According to the World Economic Forum's The Future of Jobs Report 2025, 85 million jobs could be replaced this year, but at the same time 97 million new job opportunities will be generated in emerging sectors.
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Ethical AI will only be possible with the collaboration of governments, academia and civil society. To do this, independent supervisory bodies with real powers of audit and regulation are needed. It is also essential to create mechanisms for the protection of digital rights that ensure that people can challenge algorithmic decisions that negatively affect them.
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Finally, the integration of all countries in the definition of global AI standards would make it possible to globalize education on ethics in AI, ensuring that both decision-makers and developers are aware of the implications of their systems from the perspective of modeling. Without this real ethical and regulatory basis, artificial intelligence will continue to evolve in the interests of a few, rather than benefiting all of humanity.
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AI, like any other cybernetic development, is not a passing phenomenon that should be left in the hands of a few. The transformation it brings to the economy, health, education, socialization, politics and all our daily lives requires an open and democratic debate, where we all actively participate in the reflection on the role we play as a society in the construction of our own future.
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Will we allow AI to continue to develop in the interests of a few, or will we do what is necessary to ensure fair and transparent technological development?
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