Beyond Benefits, Gen AI Poses The Most Severe Ethical Risk, Finds Survey

While widespread use of generative artificial intelligence has broadened awareness of its potential benefits, concerns about the risks its misuse poses to businesses and individuals remain top of mind, according to a Deloitte report on the “State of Ethics and Trust in Technology.”

Among the over 1,800 business and technical professionals surveyed for the report, 46% believe cognitive technologies have the potential to create the most social good when used responsibly, up from 39% in 2023. However, over half (54%) of respondents also said that cognitive technologies like AI and gen AI present the most severe ethical risks compared to other emerging technologies, underscoring the sustained need for ethical guidelines to govern their use.

When it comes to the development of ethical guidelines for emerging technologies, 27% of respondents said their organisations have distinct ethical standards for gen AI. Report findings suggest organisations where ethical guidelines are absent or underutilised may continue to be exposed to risks and miss opportunities to enhance stakeholder trust and build social, reputational, and financial value.

Key findings of the survey include:

Safety First: In the 2024 survey, 78% of respondents selected “safe and secure” as one of the top three ethical technology principles, a 37% increase from respondents in the previous year’s survey. Regarding concerns around AI, 40% of respondents ranked data privacy as their top concern.

Building Trust Among Employees A Challenge: Trust in one’s organisation and its emerging technologies may be declining and more pronounced in younger generations. In 2023, 87% of millennials and 81% of Gen Z respondents reported buy-in to their organisation’s ethical messaging; in 2024, those figures decreased to 77% and 65%, respectively.

Reputation Is Top Of Mind: When asked to rank the potential negative outcomes to organisations if ethical standards are not followed for emerging technologies, respondents rated reputational damage (82%), financial damage (66%) and regulatory penalties (60%) as their top three concerns.

Technology Ethics Training On The Rise: Investment in technology ethics training is on the rise, with 80% of respondents required to complete mandatory technology ethics training, an increase of 7% since 2022. Furthermore, 67% of respondents reported their organisation provides internal tools to familiarise employees with AI.

“Widespread availability and adoption of gen AI may have raised respondents’ familiarity and confidence in the technology, driving up optimism about its potential for good,” said Beena Ammanath, executive director, Global Deloitte AI Institute and Trustworthy AI leader, Deloitte LLP.

“The continued cautionary sentiments around its apparent risks underscore the need for specific, evolved ethical frameworks that enable positive impact. Designated ethics leaders, diverse working groups, trainings, and internal AI tools are methods that should be applied concurrently to help increase the pace and success of ethical guidance efforts,” Ammanath added.