  Artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming increasingly widespread in system
development endeavors. As AI systems affect various stakeholders due to their
unique nature, the growing influence of these systems calls for ethical
considerations. Academic discussion and practical examples of autonomous system
failures have highlighted the need for implementing ethics in software
development. However, research on methods and tools for implementing ethics
into AI system design and development in practice is still lacking. This paper
begins to address this focal problem by providing elements needed for producing
a baseline for ethics in AI based software development. We do so by means of an
industrial multiple case study on AI systems development in the healthcare
sector. Using a research model based on extant, conceptual AI ethics
literature, we explore the current state of practice out on the field in the
absence of formal methods and tools for ethically aligned design.
