AI advances bring new ethical questions - Spectrum News

CINCINNATI — As artificial intelligence becomes more capable and increasingly integrated into everyday life, researchers at the University of Cincinnati are examining the ethical questions emerging alongside the technology.

Clair Baleshta, a postdoctoral fellow in AI ethics, said her background in philosophy drew her to questions about the world and technology around her.

“There were a lot of questions about harm, about trust and distrust, about justice and fairness that arise in broader senses in the context of philosophy that I think AI represents a really interesting case to think about those concepts in,” Baleshta said.

Baleshta is exploring those questions through UC’s Center for Humanities and Technology, or UC CHAT. The center, recently renamed from the Center for Explainable, Ethical and Trustworthy AI, launched last year with a focus on helping communities think critically about AI.

But as AI evolves rapidly, founding director André Curtis-Trudel said researchers are confronting challenges they did not necessarily anticipate.

“There’s lots of discussion about sort of misaligned AI systems or AI systems which are capable of engaging in cyberattacks,” Curtis-Trudel said.

One emerging area is the development of AI agents, technology that can make decisions and complete tasks with less human guidance.

A global Gartner survey found that 17% of organizations had already deployed AI agents, while over 60% expected to deploy them within two years. The 2026 CIO and Technology Executive Survey included 2,501 CIOs and technology executives across multiple geographic regions and industries.

“There’s real questions about what it would be to trust a system or rely on a system that is in many respects very alien from us,” Curtis-Trudel said. “But nevertheless, is playing an increasingly important role in all sorts of aspects of our everyday life.”

Those questions are also reaching classrooms. Ohio law required traditional public school districts, community schools and STEM schools to adopt policies governing the use of artificial intelligence by July 1. The state is also integrating AI into its learning standards and providing resources to help educators incorporate AI skills across subjects.

But Andy Cullison, UC CHAT’s director of engagement, said the growing presence of AI does not necessarily mean adding more technology to the classroom. In some cases, he sees educators returning to more traditional methods.

“I have my own students take handwritten notes on the readings,” Cullison said. “One wonderful thing I found is in doing that is they come to class even more prepared and the conversations are livelier.”

As AI systems become more independent, Baleshta said questions about responsibility can become more difficult to answer when something goes wrong. Researchers at UC say that uncertainty makes keeping people, and the humanities, at the center of the conversation increasingly important.

UC is also putting artificial intelligence directly into the hands of its campus community. Since Spectrum News 1 first visited the center last year, the university has expanded BearcatGPT, its private generative AI platform, to all students, faculty and staff. UC says it is the first private AI platform developed by an Ohio university.

UC is not alone in expanding its focus on artificial intelligence. Ohio State University has launched university-wide efforts that include research into trustworthy and responsible AI, while Case Western Reserve University is examining AI ethics and responsible use through its Human-centered AI, Ethics & Society initiative.