Advancing Responsible Innovation in Agentic AI: A study of Ethical Frameworks for Household Automation

TL;DR

This paper reviews ethical frameworks and design principles for developing responsible, transparent, and inclusive agentic AI systems in household automation, emphasizing vulnerable user groups and participatory approaches.

Contribution

It offers a comprehensive survey of ethical considerations, design imperatives, and governance practices for agentic AI in smart homes, integrating social media analysis and inclusive methodologies.

Findings

Identified key ethical challenges in household AI.

Proposed design imperatives like explainability and granular consent.

Highlighted importance of inclusive, participatory design approaches.

Abstract

The implementation of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in household environments, especially in the form of proactive autonomous agents, brings about possibilities of comfort and attention as well as it comes with intra or extramural ethical challenges. This article analyzes agentic AI and its applications, focusing on its move from reactive to proactive autonomy, privacy, fairness and user control. We review responsible innovation frameworks, human-centered design principles, and governance practices to distill practical guidance for ethical smart home systems. Vulnerable user groups such as elderly individuals, children, and neurodivergent who face higher risks of surveillance, bias, and privacy risks were studied in detail in context of Agentic AI. Design imperatives are highlighted such as tailored explainability, granular consent mechanisms, and robust override controls, supported by participatory and inclusive methodologies. It was also explored how data-driven insights, including social media analysis via Natural Language Processing(NLP), can inform specific user needs and ethical concerns. This survey aims to provide both a conceptual foundation and suggestions for developing transparent, inclusive, and trustworthy agentic AI in household automation.