The International Center for AI Research and Ethics (ICAIRE) has called on universities and academic institutions around the world to adopt specialised master’s degrees in AI ethics, as part of an effort to prepare professionals able to address the ethical, regulatory and societal dimensions of the rapid expansion of intelligent technologies.

The announcement was made during a dialogue session at the fourth UNESCO Global Forum on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence, hosted by Saudi Arabia in Riyadh from 14 to 17 September 2026.

ICAIRE developed the initiative in collaboration with the Collaborative Research Laboratory for Managing Uncertainty in the Age of AI (CUMAAI), which brings together professors and researchers from leading institutions including Stanford University, the University of California, Berkeley, and IE University in Madrid.

The academic framework draws on the UNESCO Recommendation on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence, providing universities with a structured reference for designing postgraduate and executive-education programmes in the field.

Rather than prescribing a rigid academic model, the framework is designed to adapt to different national systems, regulatory environments and academic disciplines, enabling each institution to develop a programme suited to its own context and requirements.

The approach aims to deepen students’ understanding of AI’s ethical, regulatory and social implications alongside technical developments, helping narrow the gap between designing and developing intelligent systems and understanding their potential effects on people and society.

The proposed programme is intended to help prepare a new generation of professionals, policymakers, educators and civil-society leaders with the knowledge needed to guide AI use responsibly and develop policies and frameworks that balance innovation with the protection of rights and the public interest.

The framework is expected to be made available to universities and academic institutions interested in adopting and developing it. Work is also under way to form a global team of academic and applied experts from different regions to oversee its development and establish it as an international reference for embedding AI ethics in academic programmes.

The initiative comes amid growing demand for disciplines that combine technology, ethics, policy, law and the social sciences, as AI applications expand rapidly across education, healthcare, the economy and government services.