Ethical implications of using AI for knowledge creation: a dialectic view from a meta-synthesis approach

Purpose This paper aims to explain the ethical challenges of using Artificial Intelligence (AI) for knowledge creation. AI, endowed with autonomy and learning capabilities, strives to generate knowledge from data, thereby automating or augmenting knowledge work. Yet, reducing human involvement in knowledge-related activities may not always prove effective and can pose various ethical challenges to organizations. The authors adopt prevalent guidelines for ethical AI to reveal the problems organizations face when using AI in knowledge creation. Design/methodology/approach The authors have analyzed the literature on knowledge generation using AI. This is followed by a meta-synthesis of qualitative studies to develop a comprehensive view of ethical issues arising out of the use of AI. Findings The findings suggest multiple tensions between humans and AI during the training and continuation stages. The authors have used the dialectic lens to explain the ethical implications arising out of these tensions. Practical implications AI promises to alter knowledge work fundamentally and is expected to benefit organizations and individuals. To ensure the highest level of ethical compliance, organizations must understand the inner mechanisms of using AI. This paper provides a comprehensive view to explain these mechanisms and also reveals the ethical issues that can emerge. Originality/value The authors have taken an approach to identify ethical challenges when using AI in a real-world setting, which they believe is a first of its kind. Instead of simplified principle-based guidelines, they have synthesized the ethical challenges of using AI for knowledge creation.