The Role of Virtue Ethics in the AI Act: Ethical Principles for Responsible AI Development and AI Literacy in Education

Author : Prof. Martina Gaisch

Abstract :The European Union’s AI Act represents a pioneering regulatory framework aimed at ensuring the ethical development and governance of artificial intelligence (AI) systems. While the Act does not explicitly reference virtue ethics, its legal and ethical provisions resonate with central virtues such as wisdom, integrity, responsibility, and empathy. For the educational sector, these embedded values are of critical importance—not only for the responsible development of AI but also for equipping learners, educators, and future AI practitioners with the ethical competencies needed to navigate an increasingly AI-driven world. Drawing on Aristotle’s notion of phronesis—translated here as digital wisdom—this contribution explores how virtue ethics provides an essential lens for fostering reflective and ethically grounded decision-making in AI development, particularly within educational contexts. AI applications in education, such as adaptive learning platforms or AI-driven assessment systems, present both opportunities and ethical risks: they influence learner trajectories, shape educational fairness, and impact long-term societal outcomes. Embedding virtues like moderation and responsibility into AI governance ensures a balanced approach to innovation while safeguarding fundamental rights—an imperative underscored by the AI Act’s risk-based regulatory model. The paper introduces the PRISMA AI model, a hybrid ethical framework that integrates deontological ethics, virtue ethics, and consequentialist perspectives, offering a comprehensive approach to AI governance and AI literacy. PRISMA AI serves not only as a theoretical construct but also as a practical tool for educators, policymakers, and AI developers. It provides an actionable structure for teaching about ethical AI, fostering critical thinking, and enabling students to engage with complex ethical dilemmas arising from AI applications. The model’s alignment with European values—justice, democracy, human dignity—ensures that ethical education around AI remains culturally grounded and globally relevant

Keywords :Virtue Ethics, AI Act, PRISMA AI Model, AI Literacy, Digital Wisdom, Responsible AI, Ethical AI in Education, AI Governance

Conference Name :International Conference on Education, Learning and Management (ICELM-25)

Conference Place San Francisco, USA

Conference Date 27th Aug 2025