Unit 7: Digital Technologies & AI Ethics Lesson 3 of 5

AI Ethics in Practice: Building Ethical Decision-Making Frameworks

Duration: 75 minutes Year Level: 9-13 Curriculum Areas: Digital Technologies, Social Sciences, Philosophy

🌅 Karakia & Cultural Opening

"Mā te huruhuru ka rere ai te manu" - Adorn the bird with feathers so it can fly

Opening Protocol (5 minutes)

Ethical Grounding: Acknowledging our responsibility to make ethical decisions in the digital age
Collective Wisdom: Drawing on diverse ethical traditions to create robust frameworks
Practical Purpose: Building tools that help us navigate real-world AI ethical dilemmas

🎯 Learning Objectives & Success Criteria

By the end of this lesson, ākonga will be able to:

Construct: Build personal AI ethics frameworks combining multiple ethical traditions
Apply: Use ethical frameworks to evaluate real-world AI scenarios
Integrate: Combine Te Ao Māori values with contemporary ethics theories
Plan: Design community action steps for promoting ethical AI

Success Criteria - Ākonga will demonstrate:

✓ Clear articulation of personal AI ethics principles
✓ Practical application of ethics frameworks to complex scenarios
✓ Integration of Māori values with Western ethical theories
✓ Realistic and actionable community engagement plans

Phase 1: Ethics Framework Construction - Building Your AI Ethics Compass (25 minutes)

Personal AI Ethics Framework Workshop

20 minutes construction + 5 minutes sharing

Step 1: Core Values Foundation (8 minutes)

Working individually, students identify their core values for AI ethics by completing this reflection:

Te Ao Māori Values Selection

Choose 2-3 values most important to you for AI ethics:

☐ Whakatōhea - Collective responsibility and care for all
☐ Mana Motuhake - Self-determination and autonomy
☐ Kotahitanga - Unity and working together
☐ Tika - Justice and doing what is right
☐ Aroha - Love, compassion, and care
☐ Whakapapa - Relationships and connections
☐ Mauri - Life force and essence
☐ Kaitiakitanga - Guardianship and protection

Universal Ethical Principles Selection

Choose 2-3 additional principles to complement your Te Ao Māori values:

☐ Human Dignity - Respect for inherent worth of all people
☐ Fairness - Equal treatment and just distribution of benefits/risks
☐ Transparency - Openness about how AI systems work
☐ Privacy - Protection of personal information and autonomy
☐ Accountability - Clear responsibility for AI decisions and impacts
☐ Beneficence - Doing good and maximizing positive impact
☐ Non-maleficence - Avoiding harm and minimizing negative impacts
☐ Sustainability - Long-term environmental and social responsibility

Step 2: Framework Integration (7 minutes)

Create your integrated AI ethics framework by completing these statements:

My Core Principle:

"When evaluating AI systems, the most important thing to me is..."

Student writes their overarching principle combining chosen values

My Decision Process:

"When facing an AI ethics dilemma, I will ask these questions..."

Student creates 3-4 key questions based on their chosen values

My Red Lines:

"AI systems should never..."

Student identifies 2-3 absolute boundaries based on their values

Step 3: Framework Testing (5 minutes)

Quickly test your framework on this scenario:

Quick Test Scenario: A social media platform uses AI to curate content feeds. The AI increases engagement but also tends to show more extreme or polarizing content because it gets stronger reactions. Using your framework, is this ethical? What questions would you ask?

Framework Sharing (5 minutes): Students pair up and share their frameworks, discussing similarities and differences.

Phase 2: Real-World Application - Ethics Frameworks in Action (25 minutes)

AI Ethics Decision-Making Lab

Complex Scenario Analysis (20 minutes):

Working in groups of 3-4, apply your individual frameworks to these complex AI ethics scenarios:

Scenario 1: AI-Powered Healthcare in Rural Communities

Context: A tech company develops an AI diagnostic tool that could bring advanced medical analysis to rural Māori communities with limited access to specialists. However, the AI was trained primarily on health data from Pākehā populations.

The Dilemma:

The AI could provide life-saving early detection of diseases
But it may be less accurate for Māori patients due to training data bias
Rural communities desperately need better healthcare access
But using biased AI could worsen health inequities
Waiting for better AI could delay help for years

Additional Factors:

Community leaders want to be involved in decision-making
Traditional healing practices should be respected alongside AI diagnostics
Data sovereignty concerns about health information
Cost and accessibility issues

Group Analysis Process:

Each member applies their personal framework (5 minutes)
Share individual recommendations and reasoning (5 minutes)
Find common ground and build group consensus (5 minutes)
Develop specific action recommendations (5 minutes)

Scenario 2: AI Content Moderation and Cultural Expression

Context: A global social media platform uses AI to automatically detect and remove "harmful content." The AI frequently flags and removes posts containing traditional Māori haka, traditional hunting content, and cultural ceremonies, classifying them as "violent" or "inappropriate."

The Dilemma:

AI moderation is needed to handle billions of posts daily
But it's censoring legitimate cultural expression
Manual review by humans is too slow and expensive
But AI lacks cultural context and nuance
Platform wants to be culturally respectful but also safe

Additional Factors:

Different cultures have different norms about appropriate content
Young Māori use the platform to connect with culture
Advertisers pressure platform to be "brand-safe"
Free speech and cultural preservation concerns

Scenario 3: AI in Education and Cultural Knowledge

Context: An AI tutoring system is being developed to teach students. It can personalize learning and provide 24/7 help. However, the AI struggles to incorporate Māori ways of knowing and tends to present Western scientific perspectives as the only valid knowledge.

The Dilemma:

AI could democratize access to personalized education
But it may undermine indigenous knowledge systems
Students need help outside school hours
But AI may create homogenized, culturally narrow thinking
Teachers want AI support but worry about cultural authenticity

Additional Factors:

Māori parents want their children to learn both systems
AI companies lack indigenous knowledge expertise
Questions about who owns and controls educational AI
Concern about replacing human teachers and relationships

Group Decision Presentation (5 minutes):

Each group presents their scenario decision in 90 seconds, covering:

What ethical frameworks guided their decision
Their recommended course of action
How they balanced competing values and interests
What safeguards or conditions they would require

Phase 3: Community Action Planning - From Ethics to Impact (20 minutes)

AI Ethics Advocacy Design Workshop

Community Engagement Strategy Development (15 minutes):

Working individually, design a realistic plan to promote ethical AI in your community:

Step 1: Issue Focus (3 minutes)

Choose one AI ethics issue that matters most to your community:

☐ AI bias affecting local hiring or services
☐ Social media algorithms and youth mental health
☐ AI in local healthcare or education
☐ Surveillance technology in public spaces
☐ AI impact on local jobs or economy
☐ Cultural preservation in digital spaces
☐ Other: _________________

Step 2: Stakeholder Mapping (4 minutes)

Identify key people and groups who need to be involved:

Decision Makers:

Who has power to make changes?

Local government officials
School administrators
Business leaders
Other: ___________

Affected Community:

Who is most impacted?

Youth and students
Māori and Pasifika communities
Workers in affected industries
Other: ___________

Allies and Advocates:

Who might support this cause?

Teachers and educators
Community organizations
Local media
Other: ___________

Step 3: Action Strategy (5 minutes)

Plan specific actions you could realistically take:

This Month (Immediate Actions):

☐ Research the issue more deeply
☐ Talk to friends/family about AI ethics
☐ Contact one local organization
☐ Share information on social media
☐ Other: _______________

Next 3 Months (Building Momentum):

☐ Organize a community discussion
☐ Contact local government representatives
☐ Partner with established organizations
☐ Create educational content/workshop
☐ Other: _______________

Long-term Vision (6+ Months):

☐ Advocate for policy changes
☐ Establish ongoing community group
☐ Influence local AI implementation
☐ Build lasting advocacy network
☐ Other: _______________

Step 4: Success Metrics (3 minutes)

How will you know if your advocacy is working?

Number of people engaged in conversations about AI ethics
Policy changes or commitments from local leaders
Increased awareness in local media or social media
Formation of ongoing advocacy groups or initiatives
Other: _________________________

Action Plan Sharing Circle (5 minutes):

Students form groups of 4 and share their action plans, offering support and suggestions for each other's advocacy strategies.

🌅 Whakamutunga - Reflection & Closing

Ethical Leadership Commitment (5 minutes)

Personal Ethics Integration Reflection:

Students complete individual reflection:

How has building your personal AI ethics framework changed your thinking about technology?
What was most challenging about applying ethics frameworks to real-world scenarios?
How do Te Ao Māori values strengthen your approach to AI ethics?
What is one specific action from your community plan that you commit to taking this week?

Closing Circle - Ethical Leadership Commitment:

Students share one word describing their commitment to ethical AI leadership, followed by teacher reflection:

"Mā te huruhuru ka rere ai te manu"

Just as birds need feathers to fly, we need ethical frameworks to navigate the complex world of AI. Your framework is your compass - use it to make decisions that honor both innovation and justice. The future of AI depends on ethical leaders like you taking action in your communities.

📊 Assessment & Next Steps

Formative Assessment - Today's Evidence:

Framework Construction: Depth and integration of personal AI ethics framework
Applied Analysis: Quality of ethical reasoning in complex scenarios
Cultural Integration: Meaningful incorporation of Te Ao Māori values
Action Planning: Realistic and specific community engagement strategies

Preparation for Lesson 4:

Framework Testing: Use your ethics framework to evaluate one AI tool you use regularly
Community Scanning: Identify one AI system affecting your local community
Action Research: Take one action from your community plan and document the experience

🛠️ Teacher Resources & Adaptations

Ethics Framework Resources:

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Comprehensive ethics theory background
AI Ethics Lab: Practical frameworks for AI ethics education
Te Ara - Encyclopedia of New Zealand: Te Ao Māori values and worldview
Future of Humanity Institute: Applied ethics in emerging technology

Scenario Development Support:

Local News Sources: Current AI implementation in your region
Community Leaders: Insights into local AI impacts and concerns
Ethics Bowl Resources: Additional complex scenarios for practice
Case Study Databases: Real-world AI ethics dilemmas

Differentiation Strategies:

Framework Complexity: Simplify or expand ethical framework elements
Scenario Selection: Choose scenarios matching student interests and experiences
Action Planning: Scale community engagement to student capacity and confidence
Cultural Integration: Adapt cultural elements to local Indigenous perspectives