Thesis Completion & Submission

I have completed and submitted my thesis for the MSc in Data and Artificial Intelligence Ethics program at the University of Edinburgh. While I won’t share the full thesis here, the opening of the executive summary reveals the core argument:

“The dominant approach to incorporating ethics into the development of artificial intelligence, what is commonly referred to as the practice of Responsible AI, has created a culture that reflexively defers moral judgment to governance bodies and statistical tools rather than one that promotes independent decision-making.”

The thesis proposes ETHICA (Ethical Implementation and Conscious Application), a poly-ethical decision-making framework that repositions ethics from compliance-based to competency-based approaches. The framework treats ethical practice as learned reasoning skills integrated into development workflows rather than isolated compliance mandates.

Reflections on Completing the Degree

Submitting the thesis was a moment of reflection. It is, without question, one of the most important artifacts of your education. The submission also prompted me to think seriously about whether to pursue doctoral studies. I ultimately decided against it.

Three key reasons:

No desire for academia. While I appreciate the magic of knowledge transfer, I prioritize continued learning and occasional lecturing over full-time university teaching.
Commitment to practice over theory. I see myself as a practitioner rather than a theorist. I’m critical of self-labeled “AI Thought Leaders” and believe we need more general contractors who know how to build the house — people who can translate abstract principles into actionable workstreams.
Avoiding isolation. The solitary nature of PhD research conflicts with my need for collaborative environments focused on implementing Responsible AI at organizational scale.

The complete GitHub repository for the ETHICA project remains available at https://github.com/ethica-framework for ongoing development.