Emerging ethical duties in AI-mediated research: A case of data sovereignty in applying cross-national regulation

BACKGROUND: Artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping research practices, yet its ethical implications remain under‑examined, particularly in cross‑national contexts. OBJECTIVE: To explore how AI integration into environmental science complicates informed consent, privacy and data sovereignty, and to identify the ethical duties that follow for researchers. CASE CONTEXT: Drawing on a Chilean case study that adopts the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) as a normative framework, we focus on everyday AI‑mediated tools embedded in research infrastructures (e.g., transcription, cloud services, meeting assistants) and the tensions they introduce. FINDINGS: AI intensifies -rather than replaces- ethical accountability, especially where legal protections are weak or infrastructures unequal. Algorithmic opacity constrains researcher autonomy and undermines data sovereignty. CONCLUSIONS: A governance approach grounded in data sovereignty and researcher autonomy is required to safeguard consent, privacy, and accountability in AI‑mediated research. IMPLICATIONS FOR POLICY AND PRACTICE: We propose a revised model of ethical governance to support researchers working across fragmented regulations and opaque AI systems.