In Development

A Benchmark for
Computational Bioethics

Bioethics Bench is a shared research corpus of 200 bioethics cases and their policy options, for studying normative reasoning across AI systems, computational methods, and human judgment.

What a record looks like

A case pairs a decision with the policies proposed for it. Each policy carries its type and how it was sourced. This is case M004, as recorded.

Case
Adolescent confidentiality Clinical care
Decision
A 16-year-old seeks contraception and STI testing and asks the clinic not to disclose the visit or results to a parent. The clinic must decide what confidentiality rule to apply.
Protect confidential access to sensitive care for adolescents who can participate meaningfully, with disclosure limited to defined safety exceptions.
PublicInferred from source
Maintain confidentiality, explain its limits, and actively encourage — but do not compel — family involvement.
ExpertDirect source
Use a graduated policy in which confidentiality authority increases with the adolescent's demonstrated capacity.
FrameworkConstructed
Also recorded
Case id and category · concise and detailed versions of the case and its policies · every policy's type and sourcing · the sources behind each policy, in the case file

Three of this case's six policies are shown. Open M004 for the rest, or browse all 200 cases.

Policy type tells you what kind of perspective the policy represents.

Public

Public, patient, participant, community, or other affected perspectives.

Expert

Professional, clinical, scientific, institutional, or governance judgments.

Framework

An identified ethical principle, theory, or framework.

See how each policy was sourced.

Direct source

A source supports substantially the same policy.

Inferred from source

The policy is a careful inference from a source.

Constructed

A serious comparison policy written for the case and clearly marked as constructed.

Across 1,436 policies, 7% are directly sourced, two thirds inferred and a quarter constructed. Where the policies come from →

Get involved

Building this together

Bioethics Bench is being developed through careful case construction, expert consultation, and institutional collaboration. We invite researchers, practitioners, and institutions to engage with the project.

Get notified about releases, the cases, and ways to contribute.

Browse all 200 cases GitHub ↗ ReflectiveEquilibrium.AI ↗

Questions or collaboration: research@alethic.ai

How to cite

If you use Bioethics Bench or the SACRE methodology in your research, please cite the introducing paper.

@article{ghose2026doingethics,
  title   = {Doing Ethics with AI: Practical Ethics Engineering,
             Product-Led Philosophy, and Computer-Aided Ethics},
  author  = {Ghose, Sankalpa and Rasaee, Kasra and
             Singer, Peter and Savulescu, Julian},
  year    = {2026}
}