This scoping review aims to categorize and analyze the academic literature on promoting the implementation of artificial intelligence (AI) ethics within organizations.
The screening process assessed 216 peer-reviewed publications published from 2012 to April 2023. The first research question was: Where and in what form can we find contributions to promoting the implementation of AI ethics in organizations within the peer-reviewed literature? We summarized the basic characteristics of the included publications (type of journal, study design and sectors). The second question was: What strategies and practices for promoting the implementation of AI ethics in organizations are proposed in the academic literature? By inductively synthesizing the results, this study categorized them using a robust theoretical and conceptual classification.
The author discovered that the healthcare sector is at the forefront of the discussion compared to other areas, such as business ethics and organizational management. Our results also reveal a gap in translating theoretical and conceptual propositions into practice. Supporting our endorsement of a pluralistic ethical perspective, our findings illustrate the various approaches organizations can adopt to enhance their implementation of AI ethics. Although we deliberately excluded publications that solely focused on policy solutions without including organizational ones, nearly 25% of the recommendations addressed AI ethics initiatives established, formalized, imposed, and regulated by an external entity relative to the organization.
Originality/value – These results may mitigate the risk of AI ethics-washing and highlight the critical role of public engagement and social license in monitoring this risk.
