CYOct 25, 2024
Can We Trust AI Agents? A Case Study of an LLM-Based Multi-Agent System for Ethical AIJosé Antonio Siqueira de Cerqueira, Mamia Agbese, Rebekah Rousi et al.
AI-based systems, including Large Language Models (LLM), impact millions by supporting diverse tasks but face issues like misinformation, bias, and misuse. AI ethics is crucial as new technologies and concerns emerge, but objective, practical guidance remains debated. This study examines the use of LLMs for AI ethics in practice, assessing how LLM trustworthiness-enhancing techniques affect software development in this context. Using the Design Science Research (DSR) method, we identify techniques for LLM trustworthiness: multi-agents, distinct roles, structured communication, and multiple rounds of debate. We design a multi-agent prototype LLM-MAS, where agents engage in structured discussions on real-world AI ethics issues from the AI Incident Database. We evaluate the prototype across three case scenarios using thematic analysis, hierarchical clustering, comparative (baseline) studies, and running source code. The system generates approximately 2,000 lines of code per case, compared to only 80 lines in baseline trials. Discussions reveal terms like bias detection, transparency, accountability, user consent, GDPR compliance, fairness evaluation, and EU AI Act compliance, showing this prototype ability to generate extensive source code and documentation addressing often overlooked AI ethics issues. However, practical challenges in source code integration and dependency management may limit its use by practitioners.
CLFeb 27, 2025
Mapping Trustworthiness in Large Language Models: A Bibliometric Analysis Bridging Theory to PracticeJosé Siqueira de Cerqueira, Kai-Kristian Kemell, Rebekah Rousi et al.
The rapid proliferation of Large Language Models (LLMs) has raised significant trustworthiness and ethical concerns. Despite the widespread adoption of LLMs across domains, there is still no clear consensus on how to define and operationalise trustworthiness. This study aims to bridge the gap between theoretical discussion and practical implementation by analysing research trends, definitions of trustworthiness, and practical techniques. We conducted a bibliometric mapping analysis of 2,006 publications from Web of Science (2019-2025) using the Bibliometrix, and manually reviewed 68 papers. We found a shift from traditional AI ethics discussion to LLM trustworthiness frameworks. We identified 18 different definitions of trust/trustworthiness, with transparency, explainability and reliability emerging as the most common dimensions. We identified 20 strategies to enhance LLM trustworthiness, with fine-tuning and retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) being the most prominent. Most of the strategies are developer-driven and applied during the post-training phase. Several authors propose fragmented terminologies rather than unified frameworks, leading to the risks of "ethics washing," where ethical discourse is adopted without a genuine regulatory commitment. Our findings highlight: persistent gaps between theoretical taxonomies and practical implementation, the crucial role of the developer in operationalising trust, and call for standardised frameworks and stronger regulatory measures to enable trustworthy and ethical deployment of LLMs.
CYJan 12, 2024
Business and ethical concerns in domestic Conversational Generative AI-empowered multi-robot systemsRebekah Rousi, Hooman Samani, Niko Mäkitalo et al.
Business and technology are intricately connected through logic and design. They are equally sensitive to societal changes and may be devastated by scandal. Cooperative multi-robot systems (MRSs) are on the rise, allowing robots of different types and brands to work together in diverse contexts. Generative artificial intelligence has been a dominant topic in recent artificial intelligence (AI) discussions due to its capacity to mimic humans through the use of natural language and the production of media, including deep fakes. In this article, we focus specifically on the conversational aspects of generative AI, and hence use the term Conversational Generative artificial intelligence (CGI). Like MRSs, CGIs have enormous potential for revolutionizing processes across sectors and transforming the way humans conduct business. From a business perspective, cooperative MRSs alone, with potential conflicts of interest, privacy practices, and safety concerns, require ethical examination. MRSs empowered by CGIs demand multi-dimensional and sophisticated methods to uncover imminent ethical pitfalls. This study focuses on ethics in CGI-empowered MRSs while reporting the stages of developing the MORUL model.