Consensus and Gaps in AI Ethics: An Integrated Analysis of 200 Guidelines Reveals Core Principles and Emerging Themes

Consensus and Gaps in AI Ethics: An Integrated Analysis of 200 Guidelines Reveals Core Principles and Emerging Themes | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Consensus and Gaps in AI Ethics: An Integrated Analysis of 200 Guidelines Reveals Core Principles and Emerging Themes Abdulbaset Musleh, Dabiah Alboaneen, Sultan Alahmari, Gharbi Alshammari, and 1 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-9097605/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract This study analyzes 200 AI ethics guidelines (2014-2022) from 46 countries using two complementary methods: statistical analysis of 17 predefined principles and BERTopic modeling for emergent themes. We found broad consensus on three 1 core principles: transparency (82.5%), reliability (78.0%), and fairness (75.5%). However, critical gaps exist: children’s rights appear in only 6% of documents, labor rights in 19.5%, and sustainability in 22.0%. Regional variations reveal European emphasis on data protection, North American focus on corporate commitment , and Asian attention to technology governance. Temporal analysis shows human-centeredness (+2.2% annually) and corporate commitment (+2.4% annually) as emerging trends. These findings offer benchmarks for policymakers and organizations developing AI ethics frameworks, while highlighting urgent gaps requiring attention. AI ethics ethical principles topic modeling BERTopic transparency fairness children’s rights sustainability corporate commitment regional variation sectoral analysis policy implications Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-9097605","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":609454886,"identity":"fef61895-1b9a-4a47-aa00-201365b4c6c4","order_by":0,"name":"Abdulbaset Musleh","email":"data:image/png;base64,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","orcid":"","institution":"Ibb University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Abdulbaset","middleName":"","lastName":"Musleh","suffix":""},{"id":609454887,"identity":"86df93c0-89f5-4fdd-8ff7-68cd7b33f05d","order_by":1,"name":"Dabiah Alboaneen","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Dabiah","middleName":"","lastName":"Alboaneen","suffix":""},{"id":609454888,"identity":"b732a73b-a0b9-42d2-878f-5cb9cc911dde","order_by":2,"name":"Sultan Alahmari","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"King Abdul Aziz City for Science and Technology (KACST)","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Sultan","middleName":"","lastName":"Alahmari","suffix":""},{"id":609454889,"identity":"687427ed-4751-40ee-affb-d500a677af31","order_by":3,"name":"Gharbi Alshammari","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Ha'il","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Gharbi","middleName":"","lastName":"Alshammari","suffix":""},{"id":609454890,"identity":"d302bcd0-6cdc-4498-b23c-5dcb987232dc","order_by":4,"name":"Entisar Alkayal","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"King Abdulaziz University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Entisar","middleName":"","lastName":"Alkayal","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2026-03-11 19:09:15","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9097605/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-9097605/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":105563921,"identity":"ec08379a-7a64-4ba9-9d5f-5ef9e5257a61","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-03-27 12:48:13","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":721430,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"MyAIEthicMaix13.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-9097605/v1_covered_840fc241-164c-4695-bf15-befe5a549e2f.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Consensus and Gaps in AI Ethics: An Integrated Analysis of 200 Guidelines Reveals Core Principles and Emerging Themes","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"AI ethics, ethical principles, topic modeling, BERTopic, transparency, fairness, children’s rights, sustainability, corporate commitment, regional variation, sectoral analysis, policy implications","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9097605/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-9097605/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"This study analyzes 200 AI ethics guidelines (2014-2022) from 46 countries using two complementary methods: statistical analysis of 17 predefined principles and BERTopic modeling for emergent themes. 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