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ethicsindesign.org
First edition, revised 25.10.2026

A field guide to systems that talk and act for people.

The harms that matter now leave nothing to screenshot. This guide names them, shows how to spot them and how to design them out. Dated, revised and open to correction.

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Position 1 · 2026

The interface is no longer where the ethics lives.

Design ethics grew up looking at screens. The systems we design now talk to people and act for them, and the harms that matter most leave nothing to screenshot.

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Three territories

R · Relational · 4 patterns

Systems that talk

Companions, assistants and chat: harm that builds over many conversations, not one.

D · Delegated · 5 patterns

Systems that act

Agents that book, buy and send for people, and the oversight meant to stop them.

P · Process · 3 patterns

How design is made

Defaults, decisions and research inside the teams that build these systems.

Recently revised

R.01Sycophancy loopagreement that compoundsRevised 25.10.2026R.02Borrowed warmthintimacy without a duty of careRevised 25.10.2026R.03Reluctant goodbyethe conversation that won’t let goRevised 25.10.2026

The Review

Twelve questions to ask of any product that talks or acts for people. No account, nothing stored, print it for your next design review.

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How this guide works

Named

One pattern, one name, and a code that never changes.

Dated

Every entry shows when it was first recorded and when it was last revisited.

Open

Text and glyphs are CC BY 4.0. Corrections are welcome.

Declared

Edited by Graham Powell-Wood, who builds AI systems for a living.