The Ethical Design Bearing
A framework built from philosophical principles that helps you ask the right questions, and understand where applying ethics to design will provide value.
What started as an extension of my Philosophy thesis on moral responsibility and agentic AI in 2018, has become Design Like a Philosopher — a workshop and masterclass in ethics for designers, and the groundwork for closing the responsibility gap in today's product design.
Why now
AI has moved ethics into the spotlight
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67%
Developer AI ethics concerns
Practitioners reporting ethical concern about what they are asked to build.
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150+%
Responsible AI skill gap
Year-on-year growth in the gap between demand and capability.
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51%
#1 problem is a knowledge gap
The most-cited blocker is knowledge and training, not intent.
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>456%
AI scams and deepfakes surge
Year-on-year rise in AI-enabled scams and deepfake incidents.
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91%
Data governance gap
Organisations reporting a gap in the governance needed to use AI responsibly.
Various reports by Gartner, Accenture & WEF, 2025–2026.