If you are taking your PMP exam after July 2026, artificial intelligence questions will likely appear. Understanding these ethical considerations is essential, and here are the key concerns you’ll need to know.
Bias in Data
AI models trained on only certain data sets will produce biased data, and will replicate and amplify that bias in their outputs. This has been shown recently in AI Hiring Decisions, where bias was shown against different groups of people that didn’t necessarily have anything to do with their skill or will to perform the work. Project managers must be aware that AI decisions may favor certain outcomes unfairly.
Privacy
Protecting customer data and sensitive project information is critical. AI systems that process this data must have adequate privacy safeguards in place. This often comes from paid models or enterprise models that allow a certain level of privacy, and stops the model being trained on your project’s information.
Transparency
AI decisions are often difficult to explain or understand. Project managers will often need to know why the system recommended a particular course of action before approving it, in case someone questions that decision later on.
Accountability
When something goes wrong, who is responsible? Accountability structures must be clear before deploying AI in project decision-making.
Copyright Concerns
AI tools trained on copyrighted material raise legal and ethical questions about ownership and attribution of generated outputs.
Reliability
AI can produce confident but incorrect answers, a phenomenon known as hallucination. Project managers must verify outputs before acting on them.
Sustainability
Generating AI outputs requires significant computational resources and energy consumption. The environmental impact should be considered.
These ethical considerations are worth knowing for the 2026 PMP exam and for managing AI responsibly in real projects.
– David McLachlan
You can see what people are saying about David McLachlan here: REVIEWS
Navigate to Free Project Management and Leadership Articles through the links on the right (or at the bottom if on Mobile)
Also available are my Project Management Templates – they’re a great way to save 100s of hours when you’re first starting out:
 50+ Project Management Templates in Excel and PowerPoint (Gantt Chart, Risk Matrix and more!) |
 Pre-made Project Management Plan Templates: Save 100 HOURS! |