Raising AI Ethics Awareness through an AI Ethics Quiz for Software Practitioners
Aastha Pant, Rashina Hoda, Paul McIntosh
TL;DR
This paper addresses the gap in AI ethics awareness among software practitioners by introducing an interactive AI Ethics Quiz delivered in two one-hour workshops (in-person and online) with 29 practitioners. The study combines a pre-quiz, the quiz, and a post-quiz to assess changes in awareness, knowledge, and confidence in ethical decision-making, finding substantial improvements and high engagement. Results show a mean quiz score of 46.17/52 (88.78%), with awareness rising from 72.41% to 93.13% post-quiz and knowledge gains of about 41.39 percentage points, alongside a large boost in confidence. The authors discuss practical implications, limitations, and recommendations for industry adoption, highlighting that pairing talks with the quiz maximizes impact and proposing future work to broaden scope, accessibility, and long-term effects.
Abstract
Context:Today, ethical issues surrounding AI systems are increasingly prevalent, highlighting the critical need to integrate AI ethics into system design to prevent societal harm. Raising awareness and fostering a deep understanding of AI ethics among software practitioners is essential for achieving this goal. However, research indicates a significant gap in practitioners' awareness and knowledge of AI ethics and ethical principles. While much effort has been directed toward helping practitioners operationalise AI ethical principles such as fairness, transparency, accountability, and privacy, less attention has been paid to raising initial awareness, which should be the foundational step. Objective: Addressing this gap, we developed a software-based tool, the AI Ethics Quiz, to raise awareness and enhance the knowledge of AI ethics among software practitioners. Our objective was to organise interactive workshops, introduce the AI Ethics Quiz, and evaluate its effectiveness in enhancing awareness and knowledge of AI ethics and ethical principles among practitioners. Method: We conducted two one-hour workshops (one in-person and one online) involving 29 software practitioners. Data was collected through pre-quiz questionnaire, the AI Ethics Quiz, and a post-quiz questionnaire. Results: The anonymous responses revealed that the quiz significantly improved practitioners' awareness and understanding of AI ethics. Additionally, practitioners found the quiz engaging and reported it created a meaningful learning experience regarding AI ethics. In this paper, we share insights gained from conducting these interactive workshops and introducing the AI Ethics Quiz to practitioners. Conclusion: We also provide recommendations for software companies and leaders to adopt similar initiatives, which may help them enhance practitioners' awareness and understanding of AI ethics.