A timely contribution to the international conversation on responsible AI
Artificial intelligence is rapidly changing how we work, learn, communicate and conduct research. For researchers, AI presents enormous opportunities , but it also raises important questions about rights, responsibility, research integrity, equality, employment, privacy and the future of knowledge.
These questions matter particularly to the international research community.
ICoRSA exists to provide a global voice for research staff and postdoctoral scholars, support better research careers, share good practice across borders and contribute to responsible and inclusive research and innovation. AI is therefore not simply a technological issue. It is increasingly a researcher issue.
AI should empower people, not replace human responsibility
One of the Charter’s central principles is meaningful human control: people must retain the real ability to understand, supervise, challenge, change or stop AI systems, particularly where important rights, opportunities or services are affected.
This principle has immediate relevance to research.
AI can help researchers analyse enormous datasets, identify patterns, accelerate literature searches, support scientific discovery and improve access to knowledge. But researchers and research institutions must remain responsible for how these technologies are used.
‘The point is AI needs to empower our doctors, not to replace them’.
– Ursula von der Leyen, 2026 State of the Union Address
The same principle can apply across the research ecosystem: AI should augment human expertise, judgement and creativity rather than remove meaningful human responsibility.
Protecting research integrity
The growing use of generative and other forms of AI also raises fundamental questions about research integrity.
How can researchers verify AI-generated information? How should AI-assisted research be disclosed? How can bias be identified? Who is accountable when an AI system produces an error? How should research data be protected?
The Charter responds to these challenges through principles of transparency, accountability, independent assessment, monitoring, privacy, safety and the right to challenge decisions.
These are closely connected with the international research community’s wider commitment to responsible research and innovation.
Protecting researchers and research careers
AI will also change research careers.
Some tasks may become faster or easier. New forms of expertise will emerge. Researchers will need opportunities to develop new skills and to understand both the capabilities and limitations of AI.
But the benefits of AI will not necessarily be distributed equally.
President von der Leyen explicitly recognised this in her speech, noting that the benefits of AI are “unevenly spread between skill sets, generations and regions”, and arguing that AI should help develop skills, improve job quality and give workers a fair chance.
This is directly relevant to ICoRSA’s work on sustainable research careers, career development, equity, mobility and working conditions. ICoRSA’s international community already engages with AI alongside responsible research practices and global collaboration.
The question for researchers is therefore not simply: ‘Will AI replace researchers?”
It is also: ‘How do we ensure researchers have the skills, protections, voice and opportunities to shape the AI-enabled research environment?’
Researchers must have a voice
The Charter places particular importance on participation.
People affected by AI should have meaningful opportunities to contribute to the decisions that shape its development and use.
For ICoRSA, this is especially significant. Researchers should not simply be recipients of technological change. They should be participants in shaping the research systems, policies and working environments in which AI is deployed.
This is part of the wider purpose of a global research staff community: bringing researchers together, sharing experience and ensuring that their collective voice contributes to international research policy and practice.
AI, equality and the global research community
The Charter also emphasises equality, non-discrimination and accessibility.
AI systems are trained on data and designed by people. If inequalities and biases are not identified and addressed, technology can reproduce or amplify them.
For researchers working across different countries, disciplines, languages, genders, backgrounds and career stages, this is a global issue.
Responsible AI therefore requires more than technical excellence. It requires diverse expertise, independent scrutiny, participation and attention to the people affected by technological change.
A timely contribution
The publication of this Charter comes at an important moment.
President von der Leyen’s speech highlighted the need for AI that creates value while also increasing responsibility, reducing environmental costs and, importantly, preserving human agency. She also called for international cooperation on areas including model evaluation, verification, early warning and AI security.
The Charter similarly argues that the governance of AI cannot be left solely to technology developers, markets or governments. Researchers, educators, workers, civil society and affected communities all have a role to play.
In that spirit, this Charter is offered humbly as a timely contribution from within the international research community.
It is not presented as an official United Nations document, an international treaty or, unless separately adopted, an official ICoRSA policy. It is intended as a framework for discussion, a starting point for researchers and policymakers to consider what responsible, human-centred AI should mean for our shared future.
A Charter for researchers
The future of AI will be shaped by decisions being made now.
Researchers will help create, test, evaluate, use and govern many of the technologies that will shape that future.
They therefore have a particular responsibility, and an important opportunity, to ensure that AI strengthens research rather than undermines it; expands human capability rather than diminishes it; and contributes to a more open, fair, safe and sustainable research environment.
As the Charter puts it, the fundamental question is not simply what AI can do.
It is what AI should do – and who should have a voice in deciding.
Researchers need to be part of that conversation.
Read A Global Charter for Artificial Intelligence
The full Charter is available through ICoRSA, as part of its resources for the international research community.
ICoRSA website: https://icorsa.org/
Zenodo: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22782847
The Charter was prepared by Dr Rosarii Griffin, Secretary and Director of ICoRSA, for the benefit of researchers and policymakers working across research and innovation. It seeks to highlight the importance of AI for our collective futures and encourage informed international discussion.
For further information or to contact Dr Griffin regarding the Charter: admin@icorsa.org
This article is intended to stimulate discussion. It does not, unless separately adopted, constitute an official ICoRSA policy or position.
Key reference: Ursula von der Leyen, 2026 State of the Union Address
