As we are now in the age of artificial intelligence (AI), we need to consider how this affects our world not just for economics, but how AI ethics affect society. With a significant focus on AI Ethics, your AI ethics statement is an important part of your AI program. AI has enabled new eras of innovation and opportunity. Generative AI such as ChatGPT has had one of the fastest adoption rates of any technology. For example, it took Netflix 3.5 years to reach 1 million users, and Instagram about 2.5 months, but it took ChatGPT only 5 days to reach 1 million users (Duarte, 2024). 

With this rapid rate of adoption, companies that build AI based products, and companies that use them need to ensure that their use does not harm society or individuals. Even AI in the form of citizen robots like Sophia, or the automatic creation of books (Hauer, 2022) needs to ensure no harm comes from the use of it. With AI controlling autonomous systems, and influencing human decision making, it is our collective responsibility to ensure that it is fair, transparent, and protects our privacy and security. 

This can be a daunting task when we first step into the world of responsible AI. Laying the groundwork for ethical AI creation and adoption does not have to be difficult. There are many standards around the world, and best practice guidelines that help lay that foundation. This paper will introduce you to it and help you create a sustainable AI Ethics statement for your company. 

In our free guide below, we will cover what AI Ethics is so you can apply it to your project and organisation. We will then provide guidance on drafting AI ethics statements including a sample statement at the end.   

Drafting an AI Ethics Statement

Preparing to Draft an AI Ethics Statement

The most important thing to drafting an AI Ethics Statement is to have executive level backing for the project. Make sure that the entire organisation is dedicated to the ethical development and use of AI systems. 

Your organisational level AI ethics statement needs to be signed by someone in the C-level of the company and distributed to every employee. It should also be posted where interested parties can access and view it. Project level statements need to be signed off by the project sponsor and project manager and circulated to the project team. AI ethics tasks need to be included in every project and tracked like any other work item. 

Once you have those aligned you are ready to draft your AI ethics statement. They are not complex or overly verbose so once the principles have been agreed, drafting them only takes a few minutes. You will eventually have templates for your project level AI ethics statements that you will re-use with project specific details changed. 

A Step-by-Step Guide to Drafting an AI Ethics Statement

Creating an AI Ethics Statement is a crucial step in ensuring the ethical use of AI systems. Here is a step-by-step guide to help you draft an effective AI Ethics Statement:

1. Understand the Purpose

2. Identify Key Ethical Principles

3. Define the Scope

4. Detail the Ethical Principles

5. Provide Guidance for Implementation

6. Establish a Review Process

7. Communicate the Statement

8. Enforce the Statement

These are detailed in our free guide to drafting AI ethics statements. (link below), so you understand how to address each step. 

In our examples for this book, we will use our fictious project Condiment Advisor as our context. When we expand on topics and the principles later, we will craft our AI ethics statement for our organisation and this project as our context. 

You can find more information and detailed instructions in our free Guide To Drafting AI Ethics Statements.