About
An independent standard for the ethical use of AI.
The Institute for Ethical Use (IEU) certifies people and organizations on the ethical use of AI. Our credibility is the product, so how we operate matters as much as what we certify.
The IEU exists to make responsible AI use legible and verifiable. Organizations increasingly need to prove they use AI responsibly, not simply claim it. We provide an independent way to demonstrate that, through a structured program that a third party can check.
The program runs across three tiers: a free self-assessment that shows where your organization stands, certified training that builds individual capability, and a human-led audit that provides organizational assurance. A public registry makes every valid certification checkable by anyone.
We hold ourselves to the standard we ask of others: collect only what we need, keep assessment responses private, and never trade credibility for growth.
The program
What we certify, and at what level.
Each level answers a different question: where do we stand, who here is qualified, and can an outside party vouch for how we operate.
Level 1
Self-Assessment
Understand where your organization stands.
Diagnostic, no certificate issued
AI Level 2 Certification
Certified Training in Ethical Use of AI
Build the capability, earn the credential.
Individual certificate, naming your organization if you choose to include one
AI Level 3 Certification
Certification that your company uses AI ethically
Independent, human-led assurance.
Company certificate
How certification works
Earned, recorded, and time-bound.
- 01
Assess
The free self-assessment scores your organization's current practice across four areas and returns a maturity tier with a section-by-section breakdown. It is a diagnostic, so no certificate is issued at this level.
- 02
Train
Certified training works through the curriculum module by module. Each module ends with a quiz you must pass, and passing all of them unlocks the final exam. The material covers external frameworks, standards, and law that we teach as they stand: the Government of Canada's FASTER principles, the OECD AI Principles, the EU AI Act, ISO/IEC 42001, Canadian law including PIPEDA and Quebec's Law 25, and US federal and state AI law with the NIST AI Risk Management Framework.
- 03
Examine
A comprehensive final exam draws on the core modules. Passing it is what earns the credential; completing the material alone does not.
- 04
Certify
The certificate is issued with a server-generated identifier and names both the individual and their organization. Organizational certification at the top level follows a human-led audit rather than an exam.
- 05
Verify
Every valid certificate is listed in the public registry, searchable by anyone with no account. Expired and revoked certificates are removed, so a listing always reflects current standing.
- 06
Renew
Certificates are valid for one year. A certified individual renews annually by being tested on the latest developments in the ethical use of AI; a different person at the same organization completes the training in their own right.
Where we are today
A new organization, saying so plainly.
The IEU is new. We are launching this program rather than reporting on a long history of it, and we would rather tell you that than dress up a track record we have not earned yet. What we can be judged on today is the substance of the standard, the rigor of the training, and whether the registry does what we say it does.
If that standard matters to how you choose a certifying body, the public registry is the place to hold us to it. It lists only currently-valid certificates, and it is open to anyone.