Standardization of AI Ethics: Stakeholders, Values and Profit
Bielefeld: transcript Verlag (2026), 161 pp.
"[...] what a certification could look like is only one of the questions that should be asked when discussing ethical certification of AI. Furthermore, how all potentially concerned parties (stakeholders) can be included, which values might be affected, and what this means for those actors who (rightfully) need and want to profit from AI applications were central questions that the philosophy team of the KI. NRW-flagship project „Zertifizierte KI“ (Certified AI) investigated. Further key questions raised in the contributions and throughout the project period include: Can ethics be standardized? Who audits the auditors? How can auditing institutions be aligned with actual societal concerns? What can an assessment look like for a specific area (e.g., human resources)? How are law and ethics intertwined? Which contribution can philosophy provide, now that there is a European regulation on Artificial Intelligence (e.g., in the discussion whether robots in elderly care should be considered as deceptive technology under the AI Act)? Finally, what role do standardization bodies play in ensuring trustworthy AI?
Answers to these questions are presented in this book, as well as in the project’s central outcomes: the 'Catalogue of General Ethical Requirements for AI Certification' and the 'Catalogue of Field-Specific Requirements for AI Certification'. The 'Catalogue of General Ethical Requirements for AI Certification' provides a structured framework for trustworthy AI development, identifying overarching ethical requirements for AI certification and outlining six ethical values: fairness, privacy, robustness, sustainability, transparency, and truthfulness. For each value, the project team researched existing tools, metrics, and approaches to help developers, programmers, and other practitioners build trustworthy AI systems. The 'Catalogue of Field-Specific Requirements for AI Certification' offers a list of requirements, an ethical stakeholder analysis, and a discussion of potential value tensions for six exemplary fields: arts, biometric profiling, industry and critical infrastructure, law enforcement, medicine and care and social media, a list of requirements, an ethical stakeholder analyses and a discussion of potential value tensions. The volume at hand collects the contributions to the final conference of the sub-project philosophy of the KI.NRW-Flagship-Projekt “Zertifizierte KI”. (Introduction, pages 11-12)
Answers to these questions are presented in this book, as well as in the project’s central outcomes: the 'Catalogue of General Ethical Requirements for AI Certification' and the 'Catalogue of Field-Specific Requirements for AI Certification'. The 'Catalogue of General Ethical Requirements for AI Certification' provides a structured framework for trustworthy AI development, identifying overarching ethical requirements for AI certification and outlining six ethical values: fairness, privacy, robustness, sustainability, transparency, and truthfulness. For each value, the project team researched existing tools, metrics, and approaches to help developers, programmers, and other practitioners build trustworthy AI systems. The 'Catalogue of Field-Specific Requirements for AI Certification' offers a list of requirements, an ethical stakeholder analysis, and a discussion of potential value tensions for six exemplary fields: arts, biometric profiling, industry and critical infrastructure, law enforcement, medicine and care and social media, a list of requirements, an ethical stakeholder analyses and a discussion of potential value tensions. The volume at hand collects the contributions to the final conference of the sub-project philosophy of the KI.NRW-Flagship-Projekt “Zertifizierte KI”. (Introduction, pages 11-12)
Introduction / Nicholas Kluge Corrêa, Julia Maria Mönig, 11
Should AI Auditors Be Audited? Challenges and Paths for Meta-Auditing Artificial Intelligence / Marcelo Pasetti, 15
Citizens Infrastructures as a Way to Govern AI’s Power to Shape our Shared Representations. How to Make Sure Auditing Institutions Are Aligned with Values and Societal Expectations? / Chiara Marcoccia, 39
Algorithmic Audits of HR-AI Tools in the United States. What Are HR Professionals’ and Job Seekers’ Perspectives? / Tina B. Lassiter, Kenneth R. Fleischmann, 67
To be Cared for or Deceived? Operationalizing Ethics in the Case of Elderly Care Robots under the European AI Act / Gaia Contu,107
Navigating Challenges and Opportunities of Standards Developing Organizations in Times of Rapid Technological Advancement: A DIN e.V. Perspective / Maria Mensch, Adrian Seeliger, Johannes Wellhöfer, 143
Should AI Auditors Be Audited? Challenges and Paths for Meta-Auditing Artificial Intelligence / Marcelo Pasetti, 15
Citizens Infrastructures as a Way to Govern AI’s Power to Shape our Shared Representations. How to Make Sure Auditing Institutions Are Aligned with Values and Societal Expectations? / Chiara Marcoccia, 39
Algorithmic Audits of HR-AI Tools in the United States. What Are HR Professionals’ and Job Seekers’ Perspectives? / Tina B. Lassiter, Kenneth R. Fleischmann, 67
To be Cared for or Deceived? Operationalizing Ethics in the Case of Elderly Care Robots under the European AI Act / Gaia Contu,107
Navigating Challenges and Opportunities of Standards Developing Organizations in Times of Rapid Technological Advancement: A DIN e.V. Perspective / Maria Mensch, Adrian Seeliger, Johannes Wellhöfer, 143