UNESCO: Global MOOC On The Ethics of AI

UNESCO, in cooperation with LG AI Research, launched the Global MOOC on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence, a course hosted on Coursera and structured across ten modules covering fairness, privacy, transparency, safety, environmental sustainability, and global AI governance, with translation available in 11 languages. It echoes our previous exchanges, including our contribution to the UNESCO Science Report, open calls on AI literacy, and UNICEF's Data Governance for EdTech.

Related

• UNESCO: Science Report 8th Edition (2026)

• UNESCO’s AI Competency Frameworks

• UNICEF: Data Governance For EdTech

UNESCO: Global MOOC on the Ethics of AI

The course traces directly back to the UNESCO Recommendation on the Ethics of AI, adopted by UNESCO's 193 Member States in 2021 as the first global normative instrument on AI ethics. In the years since, the challenge has shifted from securing agreement on principles to translating them into practice across the AI lifecycle, a gap this MOOC is designed to close. Launched on 20 July 2026 at the Ethics by Design: Industry and Innovation Conference in Seoul, the course was unveiled in the presence of UNESCO Director-General Khaled El-Enany, South Korea's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Science and ICT Kyung Hoon Bae, and LG AI Research President Woohyung Lim, alongside government, industry, and academic leaders and the course's module leads and International Advisory Group.

The curriculum was co-developed with LG AI Research and shaped by a group of independent and institution-based global AI experts, reflecting a public-private partnership model UNESCO frames as a way to move ethical AI commitments from consensus toward operational practice. The Seoul launch also convened panel discussions with participants including the Korea AI Safety Institute, the United Nations University Institute in Macau, the University of Toronto, Kakao, Naver, and the Agence Francophone et Africaine de l'Intelligence Artificielle, centering on how high-impact AI systems require demonstrable safety, fairness, and accountability, alongside governance structures and human-rights safeguards built into everyday product decisions. Coursera has partnered on distribution, with learners eligible for certification on completion, positioning the course as a global public good aligned with UNESCO's broader mandate to democratize AI ethics education.

References

¹ UNESCO. "UNESCO and LG AI Research Launch Global MOOC on the Ethics of AI." UNESCO. Seoul. July 20, 2026.

² UNESCO. "Recommendation on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence." United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. Paris. November 2021.