# Ethics Training Agents: Facilitating Group-Based Ethics Education with Role-Playing and Discussion for Ethical Reflection and Exploration

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.11529 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2609.11529/

## Key facts

- No citing papers in the map yet (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Placed in Educational agents and math problem solving, one of 16 directions in LLM agents and tool use.
- Builds on 11 of its 110 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 10 Sep 2026.

## Placed in

- LLM agents and tool use / [Educational agents and math problem solving](https://mlsanity.com/agents/educational-agents-and-math-problem-solving/)

## Builds on (most cited first, 11 of 11)

- [Generative Agents: Interactive Simulacra of Human Behavior](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2304.03442/) (2023)
- [Aligning Language Models to User Opinions](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2305.14929/) (2023)
- [Farsight: Fostering Responsible AI Awareness During AI Application Prototyping](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2402.15350/) (2024)
- [AHA!: Facilitating AI Impact Assessment by Generating Examples of Harms](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2306.03280/) (2023)
- [Multi-Agents are Social Groups: Investigating Social Influence of Multiple Agents in Human-Agent Interactions](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2411.04578/) (2024)
- [Ethical Frameworks and Computer Security Trolley Problems: Foundations for Conversations](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2302.14326/) (2023)
- [The AI Incident Database as an Educational Tool to Raise Awareness of AI Harms: A Classroom Exploration of Efficacy, Limitations, & Future Improvements](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2310.06269/) (2023)
- [Thematic Analysis with Open-Source Generative AI and Machine Learning: A New Method for Inductive Qualitative Codebook Development](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2410.03721/) (2024)
- [Data Ethics Emergency Drill: A Toolbox for Discussing Responsible AI for Industry Teams](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2403.10438/) (2024)
- ["This Applies to the RealWorld": Student Perspectives on Integrating Ethics into a Computer Science Assignment](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2301.08627/) (2023)
- [The Psychology of Learning from Machines: Anthropomorphic AI and the Paradox of Automation in Education](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2601.06172/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Group-based ethics training for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) students is a complex challenge, requiring substantial resources and expertise. While activity-based teaching methods, such as role-playing and discussions, are commonly employed to simulate real-world scenarios, current practices are often manual and lack integration with effective online platforms for supporting group-based ethical discussions. In this work, we propose Ethics Training Agents, a group discussion system that leverages multiple LLM participants embodying distinct ethical orientations, along with a moderator agent, to enable structured human-AI group ethical discussions for collaborative reflection. We conduct a user study with 45 undergraduate STEM students to evaluate the learning outcomes and user experience. The results show that our system supports engagement, coordination, and perspective-taking in group discussions and has a positive influence on ethical sensitivity. We also discuss practical design strategies for integrating multiple LLM agents into multi-human group settings to facilitate ethics training for STEM students.