Program Overview

Ethics and Law for Artificial Intelligence

Overview

The development of AI and its application in business contexts raises ethical and legal questions which require serious consideration. This Micro-credential will provide complementary discussions of legal and ethical perspectives on pertinent AI-related issues for managers.

Duration and Details

• Duration: 12 weeks
• Next start date: January 2026
• NFQ: Level 9
• ECTS: 5 Credits
• Mode of Study: Online

Fee and Application Deadline

• Fee: 750
• Apply By: Dec 15, 2025, 5PM

Course Description

The most prominent ethical issue is privacy, automated inferences about persons (e.g., employees or customers), and the framework of contextual integrity. This leads to the law of data protection, which creates a regulatory framework for the processing of information on individuals and is therefore relevant to business analytics, online marketing, and content regulation.

There is also a need for ethical consideration of human engagement with virtual agents, including understanding criteria for artificial agency, artificial creativity, autonomous decision-making, and responsibility of AI, the human interaction with virtual agents. This will be complemented by a detailed exploration of relevant law. Intellectual property is a key enabler, both in allowing for the ownership of AI tools but also in the possibility of AIs as creators or owners of content. Tort law rules that determine liability for damage caused by defective or mis-applied AI will also be considered. Contract law will be examined, particularly with regard to contracting with AI systems or between AIs.

Ethical Concerns and Legal Responses

There are also wider ethical concerns relating to justice, fairness, and inclusion in the development and implementation of AI, and the preservation of human dignity and meaningful work in AI-assisted workplaces. This will be connected to constitutional and human rights law, particularly where the underlying data used for AI tools contains or perpetuates bias and discrimination, and the developing regulation of AI.

Finally, the Micro-credential concludes with a reflection on what constitutes trustworthy uses of AI, and how AI systems may breach ethical rules, whether deliberately or not. How the law might respond to this will be considered through a practical case study of how AI systems may breach competition law by colluding with other AIs to fix prices or other aspects of market offerings, even if this is not a part of their design.

Entry Requirements

• Applicants must be over 21 years of age.
• A strong Level 8 undergraduate is required (not necessarily in computer science).
• Applicants who do not meet the minimum entry criteria are encouraged to discuss eligibility through the Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) process.

Course Outcomes

On successful completion of this micro-credential, you will receive credits as per the European Credit and Transfer System. These credits are recognised by the awarding institution as credits aligned to learning completed at postgraduate level 9.

What You Will Learn

In this module, you will be introduced to ethical and legal issues arising in the use of AI in management settings. You will cover considerations regarding privacy, algorithmic governance, fairness and bias, liability, surveillance, the use of artificial agents, contracting, and workplace issues.