Prototyping an ethical issue decision support tool for user story analysis

Abstract

Automating ethical recommendations in software project management might potentially enhance the quality of software products. However, since machines are not ethical agents, full automation is impossible. Thus, this study explores the feasibility of automating ethical decision-making processes within agile software project management.

To navigate these viewpoints, the research employs a narrative literature review and develops a prototype utilizing the ECCOLA ethical model and the GPT-3.5 language model. This prototype aims to seamlessly integrate ethical considerations into the agile development process by providing ethical suggestions based on user stories. Although the research is in its early stages and faces limitations related to both the inherent nature of ethics and the prototyping methodology, the study demonstrates that while full automation of ethical decision-making is not feasible, automated systems can offer valuable support to human practitioners.