Ethics of AI (University of Helsinki)

What it is

Ethics of AI is a free online course created by the University of Helsinki for anyone interested in the ethical side of artificial intelligence. It is self-paced, written in plain language and needs no technical background, which makes it a good starting point for both engineers and people coming from law, policy or business.

What it covers

Seven chapters:

1. An introduction to AI ethics and why it matters.
2. Non-maleficence: what it means for AI to do no harm.
3. Accountability: who is responsible when an AI system causes harm.
4. Transparency and explainability.
5. Human rights and AI.
6. Fairness and non-discrimination.
7. AI ethics in practice: turning principles into action.

Each chapter mixes reading with exercises that ask you to reason through cases rather than memorise definitions.

Why it is useful for AI governance

Every framework you will meet later, from the OECD AI Principles to the EU AI Act and ISO/IEC 42001, is built on the ideas in this course: accountability, transparency, fairness, harm prevention and human rights. Governance work is the practical, documented version of these ethics. Learning the reasoning first means the frameworks feel like tools to apply rather than lists to memorise. The final chapter on practice is particularly close to governance work.

Who it is for

• Students and early-career people from any background who are curious about responsible AI.
• Engineers who want the vocabulary to talk to legal, risk and policy colleagues.
• Policy and compliance people who want the ethical foundations behind AI rules.

How to use it

Do one chapter a week alongside the AI governance roadmap, and after each chapter write a short note on how you would turn the principle into a control with evidence. For example, accountability becomes a named owner for every system in your AI inventory.

Free or paid?

Free.