Cultivating Responsible Artificial Intelligence Practices in Malaysian Higher Education

The integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in higher education presents both opportunities and ethical challenges. In Malaysia, private universities are adopting AI at a pace that often outshines the development of governance frameworks, raising concerns over transparency, data privacy, and ethical literacy. This research examines the influence of three predictors (AI Transparency, Data Privacy Awareness, and Ethical AI Literacy) on the ethical use of AI among 221 academicians. Guided by Deontological Ethical Theory and employing a quantitative correlational design, the analysis revealed strong and significant relationships among all variables. Data Privacy Awareness emerged as the most consistent and positive predictor of ethical AI usage. Interestingly, AI Transparency and Ethical AI Literacy showed suppressor effects, meaning their predictive power became clearer when accounting for the influence of other variables. The model achieved an R² value of 0.653, indicating that the predictors explained 65.3% of the variance in ethical AI behaviours. The research makes three key contributions. Firstly, it addresses a gap in AI ethics research within Malaysian private universities, integrating philosophical and empirical perspectives to inform governance. Lastly, it provides actionable insights for policy and training. By emphasising the need for transparent practices, robust data protection, and ethical literacy programmes, the findings directly support SDG 4 (Quality Education) by promoting responsible digital competencies and SDG 16 (Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions) by encouraging ethical governance in AI adoption.