At the Institute for Ethics in Technology, we believe technology reaches its full potential only when guided by ethics. That’s why we say ethics boosts technological innovation. When built into design from the outset, ethics sparks new solutions, builds trust, and reveals opportunities that purely technical thinking can miss: from AI that empowers rather than discriminates to sustainable systems that grow with communities. At our university, we call this Technology for Humanity: creating solutions that not only work, but work for people.
We pursue this mission through pioneering research and education at the intersection of ethics, analytic philosophy, and technology. Our goal is to embed the rigour and insight of philosophical ethics and humanistic inquiry into every phase of technological development, implementation, and use, with a particular focus on the transformative challenges and opportunities of artificial intelligence.
The three core pillars of our work are research, teaching, and knowledge exchange.
Research: We are committed to advancing cutting-edge research that pushes the boundaries of ethical understanding in technology, fostering a landscape where innovation and ethics can walk hand in hand.
Teaching: Our teaching programs and educational activities help prepare the next generation of engineers, decision-makers, and technology leaders for the ethically complex environments they will face.
Knowledge exchange: We facilitate dialogues and partnerships across various sectors including society, politics, policy, and industry. Our engagement initiatives serve as a platform for exchanging knowledge, fostering collaboration, and ensuring that ethical considerations can be more easily integrated into real-world applications.