2026-09-21 News confirmed medium confidence

IRCAI Opens Global Consultation on Ethical-by-Design AI Research

The UNESCO-affiliated centre wants a multidisciplinary agenda of unanswered questions, with a first complete version planned for a 2027 global forum.

Edited by Tyronne Panaino

The International Research Centre on Artificial Intelligence under the auspices of UNESCO has opened an international consultation to shape a Research Agenda for Ethical by Design Artificial Intelligence. In its September 21 announcement, IRCAI says the process will ask researchers, governments, industry, civil society and international organisations which scientific questions need stronger evidence.

The initiative matters to policymakers, developers and independent researchers because it is designed to map knowledge gaps before prescribing answers. IRCAI plans to connect technical disciplines with social and ethical inquiry, then present a first complete version of the agenda at the 2027 UNESCO Global Forum on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence.

A research agenda, not a new rulebook

The consultation is not a regulation, standard or enforcement programme. Its stated purpose is to identify questions that governments, developers and societies need answered, rather than manufacture agreement between different ethical traditions. That distinction keeps the immediate output focused on research priorities instead of binding duties.

IRCAI frames the agenda as a complement to governance. The source argues that regulation can miss emerging risks or respond without enough evidence when the effects of AI systems on people and societies remain poorly understood. The consultation therefore seeks research topics that can make future decisions more measurable and better informed.

The scope crosses technical and social fields

The proposed work spans mathematics and computer science, human-computer interaction, social sciences, ethics, cognitive science and philosophy. IRCAI also says it will seek perspectives from different regions, cultures and ethical traditions rather than treating one cultural framework as globally sufficient.

Planned participants include researchers and universities, UNESCO networks and national contact points, civil-society organisations, non-governmental groups, private-sector organisations, AI companies and technology providers. Focused workshops within scientific disciplines are also part of the intended process. The announcement establishes those target groups, but it does not document confirmed participation by any specific government or company.

What the evidence does and does not establish

The official page establishes that the consultation has launched, describes its intended audience and disciplinary reach, and names a planned 2027 presentation point. It does not provide a public submission deadline, a method for selecting contributions, a publication schedule for interim drafts or criteria for resolving competing priorities.

That leaves an important uncertainty: a broad invitation can improve geographic and disciplinary representation, but the announcement alone cannot show whose evidence will shape the final agenda. It also cannot establish that governments, standards bodies or AI developers will adopt the resulting priorities. Internal confidence is medium because the organisational source is authoritative for the process it launched but provides no independent assessment of its reach or likely impact.

What to watch next

The next verifiable checkpoints are a documented contribution process, named workshops or working groups, a draft question set and evidence about regional participation. The planned first complete version at the 2027 UNESCO Global Forum will show whether the consultation produces a usable research programme with clear gaps, methods and owners rather than only a broad statement of intent.

Status

Confirmed. IRCAI has launched the consultation and set out its intended scope; participation, methodology, interim deliverables and policy influence remain unestablished.