Blockchain-Enabled Ethical Governance Framework for Transparent, Accountable, and Trustworthy AI Systems

Abstract

As artificial intelligence (AI) becomes increasingly embedded in critical domains such as healthcare, cybersecurity, finance, and public services, the demand for ethical governance ensuring fairness, transparency, and accountability is urgent. Traditional oversight mechanisms often lack verifiable trust in decentralized and dynamic environments. This chapter introduces a Blockchain-Enabled Ethical Governance for AI (B-EGAI) framework that leverages blockchain's immutability, transparency, and smart contracts to enable auditable model registries, decentralized policy enforcement, and tamper-proof decision logs. By embedding ethical principles across the AI lifecycle, B-EGAI fosters accountability and trustworthiness in real-world applications. Case studies demonstrate its potential, while discussions on privacy-preserving computation, federated learning, and decentralized oversight outline future research, positioning blockchain as a foundation for trustworthy AI.