COMPEL Glossary / ethical-impact-assessment-eia
Ethical Impact Assessment (EIA)
An Ethical Impact Assessment is a structured methodology for evaluating the ethical implications of an AI system before deployment.
What this means in practice
Based on the UNESCO framework, the COMPEL EIA follows an 8-step process: define scope, identify affected communities, map impacts, assess proportionality, consult stakeholders, evaluate alternatives, document findings, and monitor outcomes. EIAs operationalize ethical principles into concrete review processes by requiring teams to answer questions like: Who could be harmed by this system? How could harm manifest? What mitigations are in place? What residual risks are accepted and by whom? EIAs must be conducted by or reviewed by individuals independent of the development team to provide objective evaluation. In the COMPEL framework, EIAs are part of the Model stage artifacts (Human-AI Collaboration Blueprints, TMPL-M-004) and are required for gate passage before advancing to Produce.
Why it matters
AI systems deployed without structured ethical review frequently cause harms that were foreseeable with proper assessment — biased outcomes affecting vulnerable populations, privacy violations, or disproportionate impact on specific communities. EIAs catch these issues before deployment when remediation is orders of magnitude cheaper and faster than post-deployment correction. Organizations that conduct EIAs consistently report that the structured review process frequently improves system design, producing better outcomes for both the organization and affected stakeholders.
How COMPEL uses it
EIAs are a mandatory artifact of the Model stage, required for gate passage before advancing to Produce. During Model, EIA templates are completed for each AI system using the 8-step UNESCO-aligned process. During Produce, EIA findings inform deployment conditions and monitoring requirements. The Evaluate stage verifies that EIA-identified risks are being monitored and mitigations are functioning. The Learn stage captures lessons from EIA processes to improve assessment quality in future COMPEL cycles.
Related Terms
Other glossary terms mentioned in this entry's definition and context.