Philosophy, Ethics and Artificial Intelligence a Human-Centred Framework for Responsible Artificial Intelligence

Abstract Artificial Intelligence (AI) has developed from a specialised area of computer science into a general-purpose technology that increasingly influences education, healthcare, finance, employment, communication, governance and everyday decision-making. This expansion makes AI not only a technological subject but also a philosophical and ethical concern. This conceptual research paper examines the relationship between philosophy, ethics and artificial intelligence from a human-centred perspective. It analyses the ethical significance of human dignity, autonomy, privacy, justice, fairness, transparency, accountability, responsibility and sustainability. The study uses qualitative conceptual analysis of philosophical literature, AI ethics scholarship and major institutional frameworks. Particular attention is given to deontological ethics, consequentialism, virtue ethics and selected Indian ethical ideas. The paper further examines algorithmic bias, surveillance, opacity, manipulation, employment transformation, education, environmental impact and the problem of assigning responsibility for AI-mediated decisions. Contemporary frameworks of UNESCO, OECD, NIST and NITI Aayog are examined as important attempts to translate ethical principles into governance and risk-management practices. The analysis indicates that responsible AI cannot be achieved by technical safeguards alone. Ethical reasoning needs to be integrated across the complete AI lifecycle, from problem formulation and data selection to design, testing, deployment, monitoring and retirement. A human-centred framework is proposed around eight principles: human dignity, human agency, non-maleficence, justice and inclusion, privacy, explainability and contestability, accountability, and sustainability. The paper concludes that the fundamental question for the AI era is not merely what machines can do, but what human purposes, values and limits should guide their development and use.