# Implementing AI Ethics: Making Sense of the Ethical Requirements

**Authors:** Mamia Agbese, Rahul Mohanani, Arif Ali Khan, Pekka Abrahamsson  
**arXiv:** [2306.06749](https://arxiv.org/abs/2306.06749)  
**Date:** 2023-06-11  
**Summary page:** https://www.summarizepaper.com/en/arxiv-id/2306.06749v1/

## Key points

- Existing study focuses on the need for SE executives to play a more active role in implementing AI ethics
- Limited research on ethical requirements in middle and higher-level management
- Conducted interviews with ten Finnish SE executives to understand their perspectives and practices regarding ethical requirements
- Interview protocol followed an inverted funnel approach, starting with background questions and moving towards open-ended inquiries
- Interviews covered various industries including software consumer electronics, ICT solutions, data management, IT services, video surveillance systems, digitization and ICT, digitalization and ICT, software quality and measurement as well as software IT and telecommunications
- Analysis of interviews involved manual transcription and thematic analysis
- Six main themes emerged: understanding of ethical requirements; value of ethical requirements; influencing factors; implementation strategies; visibility of ethical requirements
- Privacy and data governance generally considered legal rather than ethical requirements
- Ethical considerations related to technical robustness, safety as risk requirements were practical considerations
- Societal well-being and environmental sustainability seen as important aspects of implementing ethical requirements
- Proposed using Agile portfolio management framework along with an ethical risk requirement stack to implement ethical requirements effectively
- Study provides insights into how Finnish SE executives perceive and implement ethical requirements in their organizations
- Emphasizes the need for a more practical approach to incorporating ethics into SE management practices beyond just technical development.

## Summary

The existing study focuses on the need for software engineering (SE) executives in middle and higher-level management to play a more active role in implementing AI ethics. However, it highlights that most research on ethical requirements in SE management has primarily focused on technical development, with limited findings for middle and higher-level management. To address this gap, the researchers conducted interviews with ten Finnish SE executives to understand their perspectives and practices regarding ethical requirements. The interview protocol followed an inverted funnel approach, starting with background questions and gradually moving towards more open-ended inquiries. The interviews covered various industries including software consumer electronics, ICT solutions, data management, IT services, video surveillance systems, digitization and ICT, digitalization and ICT, software quality and measurement as well as software IT and telecommunications. The analysis of the interviews involved manual transcription and thematic analysis. Six main themes emerged from the data: understanding of ethical requirements; value of ethical requirements (which was combined with importance due to overlapping content); influencing factors; implementation strategies; and visibility of ethical requirements. The first theme explored how these management groups understood ethical requirements based on the European Union's Trustworthy Ethics guidelines for Trustworthy AI. The findings revealed that privacy and data governance were generally considered as legal requirements rather than ethical ones. However there was a practical consideration of ethical requirements related to technical robustness and safety as risk requirements. Additionally societal well-being and environmental sustainability were also seen as important aspects of implementing ethical requirements. To implement these ethical requirements effectively the researchers proposed using an Agile portfolio management framework along with an ethical risk requirement stack. This approach aims to ensure that ethical considerations are integrated into SE management practices. Overall this study provides insights into how Finnish SE executives in middle and higher-level management perceive and implement ethical requirements in their organizations. It emphasizes the need for a more practical approach to incorporating ethics into SE management practices beyond just technical development.