Ethical and legal challenges of Artificial Intelligence (AI)

September 15, 2025

Artificial Intelligence (AI), as the saying goes, is here to stay, and its ethical and legal challenges are becoming increasingly evident.

As with every new technological advancement, AI must be studied and the challenges this new technology faces must be analyzed, especially with regard to ethical and legal issues.

Below is a list, generated with the help of Artificial Intelligence, detailing the main ethical and legal challenges:

AI (ethical) challenges:

The ethical perspective of AI is one of the aspects that causes the most concern and uncertainty.

Digital ethics is the set of principles and standards that govern ethical behavior (the actions we take) in the digital environment.

Digital ethics seeks to protect values such as:

Dignity,
Freedom,
Democracy,
Equality,
Autonomy of the individual and
Justice versus the government of mechanical reasoning

The European Commission is working on defining trustworthy Artificial Intelligence, and has established that, to do so, it must meet seven key requirements:

Human action and supervision,
Technical solidity and security,
Privacy and data management,
Transparency,
Diversity, non-discrimination and equity,
Social and environmental well-being and
Accountability

These requirements must be continuously evaluated throughout the entire lifecycle of an AI system.

Human oversight should not only be limited to the ethical legitimacy of treatments but should also be alert to possible unexpected effects.

Likewise, the possible collateral impact of such treatments on a social environment must also be addressed.

Biases and equity:

Artificial intelligence systems can perpetuate and amplify existing biases in training data, leading to discriminatory decisions.

Transparency and explainability:

Many AI algorithms, especially deep learning models, are black boxes, making it difficult to understand how they make decisions and generating mistrust.

Impact on employment:

AI-driven automation could lead to job losses and the need for retraining.

Behavioral manipulation:

Artificial intelligence can be used to manipulate human behavior, so its use raises concerns about autonomy and individual freedom.

Responsibility and accountability:

Determining who is responsible when an AI makes a mistake or causes harm is a complex ethical and legal challenge.

AI (Legal) Challenges:

At a legal level, Artificial Intelligence has the recent Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 June 2024 laying down harmonised rules on artificial intelligence and amending Regulations (EC) No 300/2008, (EU) No 167/2013, (EU) No 168/2013, (EU) 2018/858, (EU) 2018/1139 and (EU) 2019/2144 and Directives 2014/90/EU, (EU) 2016/797 and (EU) 2020/1828 (Artificial Intelligence Regulation).

AI Regulation:

In addition to the Artificial Intelligence Regulation, clear and uniform regulations are needed to address the responsible implementation of AI.

Furthermore, at the business level, Companies must have an AI Use Policy; as we already explained in a previous post.

Citizens’ rights:

Legal frameworks must be established to protect citizens’ rights against potential AI abuses, such as mass surveillance or algorithmic discrimination.

Intellectual property:

Artificial intelligence can generate copyrighted works, but ownership of these rights remains unclear, especially when the AI is the creator.

Civil liability:

Current legislation is not equipped to address liability in cases of harm caused by autonomous AI systems.

Data Protection:

Finally, it’s important to note that AI requires large amounts of data to operate, and this raises both legal and ethical challenges regarding privacy and the use of personal information.

The protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data is a fundamental right, enshrined in Article 8.1 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union and Article 16.1 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.

The fundamental right to data protection is developed in Regulation 619/2016 of the European Parliament and of the Council, of April 27, 2016, regarding the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and the free circulation of these data and in Organic Law 3/2018, of December 5, on the Protection of Personal Data and guarantee of digital rights (LOPDGDD).

Artificial Intelligence systems that process personal data must be designed and operated in a manner that complies with the precepts stipulated in all the Data Protection regulations mentioned above.

Organizations must also be transparent about how they collect, use, and protect user data.

As stated by the Spanish Data Protection Agency (AEPD) in its Report GDPR Compliance of Processes Incorporating Artificial Intelligence. An Introduction,Published in February 2020: “Compliance with the provisions of the GDPR requires a certain level of maturity from AI solutions that allows for an objective determination of the suitability of processing and the existence of guarantees and measures to manage their risks.”

“For these risks, technology in general, and AI technologies in particular, can have a multiplying effect on ethical shortcomings already present in society or those that have been around for a long time and are recorded in historical data. The implementation of the GDPR and the safeguards it incorporates can minimize these risks.”

Artificial intelligence must be used alongside human intelligence; that is, legal frameworks must be established to protect citizens’ rights against potential negligence and abuse of AI, and, from the outset of its use (and throughout the process), clear ethical principles and oversight mechanisms must be established to ensure its responsible use.

Author: Sandra Santiago, Lawyer.

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