Ethical and Secure Artificial Intelligence for Project Management Decision Support with Emphasis on Bias Privacy, and Human Oversight

Abstract

This systematic review explores the ethical and safe use of artificial intelligence (AI) within project management decision support systems, highlighting concerns of algorithmic bias, fairness, transparency, accountability, privacy, cybersecurity, and human oversight. 

The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA 2020) framework was adopted for the study. A literature search was carried out using Scopus, Web of Science, ScienceDirect, IEEE Xplore and Google Scholar databases, including studies from 2021 to 2026. Thirty-two studies were chosen following screening and quality assessment, following the CASP framework for thematic synthesis. The analysis was conducted through three themes: ethical challenges in the use of AI for decision-making; security and privacy issues in AI-powered project environments; and human oversight in AI-supported governance.

The findings validate that AI-driven project management systems are vulnerable to algorithmic bias, transparency and accountability concerns, cybersecurity threats, and data privacy issues. Moreover, the review reveals that organisations are more concerned about the benefits of efficiency and automation than ethical governance and security preparedness. Furthermore, excessive automation may result in loss of control over human judgment and decision-making.

The review also points to the need for integrated ethical governance systems, robust cybersecurity protocols, and human oversight mechanisms to enable AI to be effective in project management. It suggests fairness auditing, privacy by design, explainable AI systems and human-in-the-loop governance mechanisms for responsible and trustworthy project management with AI.