Transformation of the Sharing Economy in the Age of AI: Opportunities and Ethical Challenges

The sharing economy has become a significant phenomenon of the modern economy in recent years, enabling more efficient use of resources through digital platforms. At the same time, the development of generative artificial intelligence (AI) has begun to reshape the functioning of these platforms. This article explores the intersection of sustainability and AI within sharing economy platforms, focusing on environmental, economic and social dimensions. The study adopts a conceptual and exploratory research design combining a literature review with a comparative case study analysis of selected sharing economy platforms, namely Airbnb and BlaBlaCar, complemented by an industrial platform example (Xometry). The analysis examines how generative AI can support sustainable consumption, operational efficiency, and user engagement while raising important ethical concerns related to data usage, trust, bias, and algorithmic governance. The findings suggest that AI integration can improve resource utilization, accessibility, and platform efficiency, but simultaneously introduces new ethical challenges related to transparency, data governance, and algorithmic decision-making. These results highlight the dual role of AI as both a driver of sustainability and a source of emerging ethical risks in digital platform ecosystems.