Ethics in Artificial Intelligence: how to find the right balance?
Written by:
Claudia Valente
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is transforming the world through innovative solutions that significantly improve efficiency and customer experience.
However, the use of AI also poses ethical challenges that need to be addressed, especially in terms of transparency, privacy and social impact. Initiatives such as the recent European Regulation on Artificial Intelligence (AI Act) highlight the importance of ensuring that AI is developed and used ethically and responsibly.
In this article, we explore the ethical challenges of AI and key strategies to ensure responsible use, balancing innovation and transparency.
1. The new regulatory landscape: the AI Act
Since February 2025, the European Regulation on Artificial Intelligence has been in force, establishing harmonized rules for the development and use of AI systems in the European Union. This regulation classifies AI systems based on risk and prohibits practices that are considered unacceptable, such as:
- Subliminal manipulation or exploitation of vulnerabilities.
- Social scoring systems.
- Real-time remote biometric identification in public spaces.
These guidelines aim to protect the fundamental rights of citizens and ensure that AI is used safely and transparently.
2. Basic ethical principles
To ensure an ethical approach to the development and use of AI, companies must adopt five basic principles:
- Transparency: AI systems must be understandable to users.
- Accountability: companies must take responsibility for the impact of their AI solutions.
- Privacy: ensuring the protection of personal data is essential.
- Fairness: avoiding discrimination or bias in algorithms.
- Human autonomy: AI must augment human decision-making, not replace it.
3. Strategies for ethical implementation
• Ethical impact assessment
Before implementing an AI system, it is essential to conduct an Ethical Impact Assessment. This process helps identify and mitigate potential risks associated with AI and ensures compliance with regulations such as the AI Act mentioned above. The assessment should include the following steps:
- Detailed analysis of the system’s objectives and their impact.
- Evaluate the quality of the data used to train the AI models.
- Involvement of multiple stakeholders to obtain different perspectives.
Ethical impact assessment should be an ongoing process. As AI systems evolve and are exposed to new scenarios, it is necessary to regularly reassess their impact to ensure that they continue to operate ethically and responsibly.
In addition, communicating the results of the assessment to users and all stakeholders is essential to building trust. Clear reporting on the actions taken to ensure the ethical use of AI demonstrates the company’s commitment to transparency and ethical responsibility.
• Human oversight
Human oversight plays a key role in the ethical implementation of Artificial Intelligence in Contact Centers. While AI is great for automating repetitive tasks, there are more complex and sensitive contexts that require human intervention to unleash empathy, creativity, and critical judgment.
A practical example is the Human in the Loop (HITL) model, which combines automation with human oversight, allowing agents to intervene in situations where AI can make mistakes, such as misinterpreting tone or context, or when personalized responses are needed to solve more nuanced problems.
In GoContact’s case, we offer advanced tools that facilitate this human-technology collaboration, such as Agent Assist, which supports agents in real time, ensuring more accurate, efficient, and humanized interactions.
• Training and digital literacy
Empowering teams with knowledge of AI ethics is essential to ensuring that technology is used responsibly in Contact Centers. Ongoing education not only helps mitigate ethical risks but also prepares employees to maximize the potential of AI tools.
There are several organizations that offer specialized workshops and courses to help organizations understand the ethics of AI and empower participants to make informed and ethical decisions.
In the Contact Center context, platforms such as GoContact can integrate this training directly into the work environment. Through e-learning modules available on the software interface, companies can offer personalized training content to their agents.
In addition, monitoring agent performance is essential for identifying opportunities for improvement and adjusting training programs. GoContact can facilitate this process through tools such as Workforce Management, which allows the analysis of operational metrics and helps to optimize training strategies.
• Algorithmic transparency
Algorithmic transparency is one of the fundamental pillars for ensuring the ethical use of Artificial Intelligence in Contact Centers. Making AI decision-making processes understandable to users and agents is essential to building trust and avoiding misunderstandings or negative perceptions about the use of the technology.
With advanced tools, organizations can monitor and audit the automated interactions performed by AI. A Contact Center platform that allows you to analyze the performance of algorithms in different scenarios, detailed reports, and dynamic dashboards will help managers identify patterns and adjust systems.
Collecting customer feedback through automated surveys via IVR (Interactive Voice Response) is also an effective way to measure indicators such as NPS (Net Promoter Score) and customer satisfaction, allowing companies to assess whether the decisions made by AI are in line with customer expectations.
4. The power of Artificial Intelligence in Contact Centers
Artificial Intelligence is transforming the way Contact Centers operate, automating repetitive tasks and freeing agents to focus on more complex, higher-value interactions. GoContact offers solutions that integrate AI to optimize customer service, improve operational efficiency, and reduce costs.
With AI, it is possible to automate up to 70% of responses to common inquiries, increasing customer satisfaction and service team efficiency. GoContact can help you automate your voice channel and get real results. By implementing the Go.AI solution, our customers have seen:
- ~42% reduction in time spent navigating the IVR.
- ~97% accuracy in correctly routing interactions, reducing internal transfers by up to 80%.
- ~15% reduction in average call duration.
Learn more about these and other benefits here.
5. Future challenges
Despite regulatory progress and local initiatives, significant challenges remain, including:
- Rapid technological evolution: the pace of AI development can outpace the ability of regulations to keep up.
- Algorithmic bias: biased data can lead to unfair decisions.
- Customer trust: ensuring that users trust AI systems is essential for their widespread adoption.
But by adopting practices such as human oversight, algorithmic transparency, and ongoing team training, companies can overcome these challenges and ensure that AI is used responsibly and in line with organizational values.
In the Contact Center sector, smart solutions like GoContact’s make it possible to balance intelligent automation with an essential human touch, ensuring that every interaction is efficient and empathetic. What’s more, through our Digital Transformation division, we help our customers maximize the potential of AI correctly and securely. Find out now how you can transform your Contact Center while maintaining an ethical commitment to your customers. Request a personalized demo here.
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