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Montreal AI Ethics Institute releases the State of AI Ethics Report Volume 7
AI Ethics report calls for shift from hype to accountability
MONTREAL, Quebec, (November 4, 2025)— The Montreal AI Ethics Institute (MAIEI) has released the State of AI Ethics Report (SAIER) Volume 7, AI at the Crossroads: A Practitioner’s Guide to Community-Centered Solutions, a white paper confronting a growing challenge in the global AI landscape: the widening gap between responsible innovation and the realities of how AI is actually built and governed across sectors. The SAIER is now available at montrealethics.ai.
“If 2025 taught us anything, it’s that AI governance is fundamentally about power: who has it, who controls it, and how communities respond when excluded from decisions that shape their lives,” said Renjie Butalid, MAIEI Co-Founder. “If we want ethical AI systems, we must move from consultation theatre to genuine co-creation. Communities must be in the rooms where decisions are made.”
MAIEI has published six editions of the SAIER since 2018, well before AI became mainstream. The SAIER documents case studies and centers community perspectives that are often excluded from policy and governance. This volume covers sectoral applications of AI–from education and healthcare to military and entertainment–across 48 essays written by 58 international contributors from institutions such as the University of Oxford (UK); Cambridge University (UK); Infocomm Media Development Authority (Singapore); Governance and Responsible AI Lab at Purdue University (US); Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists, and more.
“Mass layoffs, deepfakes, and disinformation fuel a dystopian future as AI further embeds in core infrastructures. We’ve seen this movie. We know how it ends,” said Kei Baritugo, MAIEI Director of Global Marketing Communications. “Each new investment cements the current trajectory, unless equity and justice are built in by design. Humanity is at a crossroads, and how we proceed will determine whether we’re doomed or redeemed.”
Geopolitics will continue to dominate AI governance, as the Trump administration's impact on US AI policy, China's state-led governance approach, and the EU's risk framework enforcement represent contests over values, power, and who gets to shape technological futures. Can middle power nations like Canada maintain sovereign AI governance standards when superpowers prioritize technological dominance over safety considerations?
The report also emphasizes that genuine progress requires transparency about AI’s environmental impact, what policies and interventions actually work and where they fall short, as well as a shift toward treating AI as an assistive tool rather than a replacement for human labour and creativity.
ABOUT
Founded in 2018 as an international nonprofit, the Montreal AI Ethics Institute (MAIEI) is a trusted voice, shaping the global conversation on responsible AI. MAIEI serves as a crucial bridge between AI development and community impact, championing AI literacy for all. The AI Ethics Brief, MAIEI’s bi-weekly newsletter, provides timely, research-driven analysis of AI developments and their implications for communities.
MEDIA CONTACT
Kei Baritugo | Director of Global Marketing Communications
[email protected]
