AI ethics

I4S 1/2026: Applied AI Ethics in the Workplace

I4S 1/2026: Applied AI Ethics in the Workplace

A shared responsibility — from radiology and speech therapy to assembly
AI ethics in the workplace is everyone’s responsibility. It requires accountability from companies as a whole and conscious action from individuals—whether developers or users, managers or employees. Key issues revolve around ethical AI skills and questions of governance and employee representation. How will the world of work change, from radiology and speech therapy to assembly and quality control?
Operationalizing Ethical AI with tachAId

Operationalizing Ethical AI with tachAId

Validating an interactive advisory tool in two manufacturing use cases
Pavlos Rath-Manakidis, Henry Huick, Björn Krämer ORCID Icon, Laurenz Wiskott ORCID Icon
Integrating artificial intelligence (AI) into workplace processes promises significant efficiency gains, yet organizations face numerous ethical challenges that stakeholders are often initially unaware of—from opacity in decision-making to algorithmic bias and premature automation risks. This paper presents the design and validation of tachAId, an interactive advisory tool aimed at embedding human-centered ethical considerations into the development of AI solutions. It reports on a validation study conducted across two distinct industrial AI applications with varying AI maturity. tachAId successfully directs attention to critical ethical considerations across the AI solution lifecycle that might be overlooked in technically-focused development. However, the findings also reveal a central tension: while effective in raising awareness, the tool’s non-linear design creates significant usability challenges, indicating a user preference for more structured, linear guidance, especially ...
Industry 4.0 Science | Volume 42 | 2026 | Edition 1 | Pages 50-59 | DOI 10.30844/I4SE.26.1.48
XAI for Predicting and Nudging Worker Decision-Making

XAI for Predicting and Nudging Worker Decision-Making

Feasibility and perceived ethical issues
Jan-Phillip Herrmann ORCID Icon, Catharina Baier, Sven Tackenberg ORCID Icon, Verena Nitsch ORCID Icon
Explainable artificial intelligence (XAI)-based nudging, while ethically complex, may offer a favorable alternative to rigid, algorithmically generated schedules that simultaneously respects worker autonomy and improves overall scheduling performance on the shop floor. This paper presents a controlled laboratory study demonstrating the successful nudging of 28 industrial engineering students in a job shop simulation. The study shows that the observed concordance between students’ sequencing decisions and a predefined target sequence increases by 9% through nudging. This is done by using XAI to analyze students’ preferences and adjusting task deadlines and priorities in the simulation. The paper discusses the ethical issues of nudging, including potential manipulation, illusory autonomy, and reducing people to numbers. To mitigate these issues, it offers recommendations for implementing the XAI-based nudging approach in practice and highlights its strengths relative to rigid, ...
Industry 4.0 Science | Volume 42 | 2026 | Edition 1 | Pages 70-78