Is That Fair? Bias & AI

[Note: these questions were written in the summer of 2026. It seems that every aspect of AI’s development, usage, and impact is evolving at a rapid pace. Take that into account and use relevant, recent information in formulating your answers and arguments.]

1. We live in a largely capitalist society. Is it possible to eliminate the unfairness that some of the speakers talk about by ensuring that everyone has fair access to AI tools? How would we go about that if we tried?
2. In 2017, the head of OpenAI, Sam Altman, projected that the revolution about to be launched by AI would exceed the impact of the agricultural revolution and the industrial revolution. Therefore, he proposed a new Constitution for the United States that would advance three primary principles: “prosperity from technology, economic fairness and personal liberty.” Is this appealing to you? How would you ensure that this fairness actually came about?
3. In 2023, author Susie Alegre asked ChatGPT “Who is Susie Alegre.” Despite her 25 years of publishing material, her PhD, and her very successful book Freedom to Think, ChatGPT had never heard of her. When she asked ChatGPT who had written Freedom to Think, a Financial Times Book of the Year, it incorrectly gave a man’s name. When Alegre told ChatGPT that it was wrong, it apologized and gave another man’s name. Indeed, it gave different names (all wrong) 20 times. Nineteen of the names belonged to men. Alegre surmises that since a majority of books in the dataset that ChatGPT trained on were probably written by men, it naturally discriminated against women when responding to such inquiries. Does Alegre just need to get over it, or is this episode likely the embodiment of a much bigger and very serious bias problem? Explain.
4. Do you see implicit bias at work in the world? Is it a real phenomenon? Explain and support your position with evidence.
5. Might you have different views regarding implicit bias if you were of a different race or gender? Explain and support your position with evidence.
6. Can you explain in your own words how bias in the real world can end up being translated into bias in an AI model?
7. One of the speakers talks of bias in AI being used in the banking industry. Another worries about bias in the health care field. Have you heard of similar AI bias in other fields? Give examples with evidence.
8. Should we just accept the conclusion voiced in the video that “this is an unfair world” and resign ourselves to the fact that AI models will be unfair? Why or why not?
9. How can we encourage or require AI companies to eliminate—to the extent possible—unfair bias in the AI tools they make and sell? Government regulation? Legal liability? What might work the best?
10. A 2023 Stanford study found that AI detection tools misclassified more than half of a set of essays written by non-native speakers as being written by AI, while passing nearly all essays written by native speakers. Is this another form of bias created unintentionally by the creators of the AI detection tools? Is it possible, as some observers believe, that it will be easier to train the bias out of the AI tools than out of human graders? Why or why not?

AI Ethics Companion Handbook

This e-book compiles all the resources on AI ethics available on the Ethics Unwrapped website. It will continue to be updated as new materials are published.

A recent resource from Ethics Unwrapped is a book, Behavioral Ethics in Practice: Why We Sometimes Make the Wrong Decisions, written by Cara Biasucci and Robert Prentice. This accessible book is amply footnoted with behavioral ethics studies and associated research. It also includes suggestions at the end of each chapter for related Ethics Unwrapped videos and case studies. Some instructors use this resource to educate themselves, while others use it in lieu of (or in addition to) a textbook.

The most recent article written by Cara Biasucci and Robert Prentice describes the basics of behavioral ethics and introduces Ethics Unwrapped videos and supporting materials along with teaching examples. It also includes data on the efficacy of Ethics Unwrapped for improving ethics pedagogy across disciplines. Published in Journal of Business Law and Ethics Pedagogy (Vol. 1, August 2018), it can be downloaded here: “Teaching Behavioral Ethics (Using “Ethics Unwrapped” Videos and Educational Materials).”

Cara Biasucci also wrote a chapter on integrating Ethics Unwrapped in higher education, which can be found in the latest edition of Teaching Ethics: Instructional Models, Methods and Modalities for University Studies. The chapter includes examples of how Ethics Unwrapped is used at various universities.

An article written by Ethics Unwrapped authors Minette Drumwright, Robert Prentice, and Cara Biasucci introduce key concepts in behavioral ethics and approaches to effective ethics instruction—including sample classroom assignments. Published in the Decision Sciences Journal of Innovative Education, it can be downloaded here: “Behavioral Ethics and Teaching Ethical Decision Making.”

A detailed article written by Robert Prentice, with extensive resources for teaching behavioral ethics, was published in Journal of Legal Studies Education and can be downloaded here: “Teaching Behavioral Ethics.”

Another article by Robert Prentice, discussing how behavioral ethics can improve the ethicality of human decision-making, was published in the Notre Dame Journal of Law, Ethics & Public Policy. It can be downloaded here: “Behavioral Ethics: Can It Help Lawyers (And Others) Be their Best Selves?”

A dated (but still serviceable) introductory article about teaching behavioral ethics can be accessed through Google Scholar by searching: Prentice, Robert A. 2004. “Teaching Ethics, Heuristics, and Biases.” Journal of Business Ethics Education 1 (1): 57-74.