The future of ethics in AI: challenges and opportunities

Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems that are able to learn and reason like humans are now widely used in a large number of real-world applications. Their performance has dramatically increased the degree to which we are able to address previously inaccessible tasks. However, the debate around such systems is now pivoting towards their non-functional properties and their impact on society as a whole. In this Special Issue, we collected several works that would trigger the discussion about a more sustainable AI developmental framework that encompasses a set of principles at the crossroads of AI, Ethics, Philosophy, and Sociology. As the range of AI capabilities expands, so does our awareness of the ethical issues related to the design, development, deployment, and use of AI systems or their application for the social good. The promise for positive change that AI represents has been challenged by several reports on ethically questionable uses of AI in contexts as varied as healthcare, education, law enforcement, recruitment, risk assessment, and more.