Artificial Intelligence, scientific research and ethical-legal assessment

Current needs and perspectives with a view to greater protection of individuals

Abstract

The paper explores the growing role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in scientific research and the emerging ethical and legal challenges, on data protection, transparency and freedom of choice, with impacts on the ethical reliability of systems. After an analysis of the legally relevant aspects, especially deriving from the AI ​​Act and GDPR, the main critical issues that researchers currently face during data collection and processing activities for the development of AI systems are highlighted, as well as the need for innovative approaches to ensure comprehensibility and trustworthy of such systems, with Explanatory AI (YAI) models and new ethical and legal impact assessment methodologies, in an ethics by design perspective.