Artificial intelligence, transparency, and public decision-making

Karl de Fine Licht; Jenny De Fine Licht

doi:10.1007/s00146-020-00960-w

journal article Open Access Mar 19, 2020

Artificial intelligence, transparency, and public decision-making

Karl de Fine Licht Jenny De Fine Licht

AI & SOCIETY Vol. 35 No. 4 pp. 917-926 · Springer Science and Business Media LLC

View at Publisher Save 10.1007/s00146-020-00960-w

Abstract

AbstractThe increasing use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) for making decisions in public affairs has sparked a lively debate on the benefits and potential harms of self-learning technologies, ranging from the hopes of fully informed and objectively taken decisions to fear for the destruction of mankind. To prevent the negative outcomes and to achieve accountable systems, many have argued that we need to open up the “black box” of AI decision-making and make it more transparent. Whereas this debate has primarily focused on how transparency can secure high-quality, fair, and reliable decisions, far less attention has been devoted to the role of transparency when it comes to how the general public come toperceiveAI decision-making as legitimate and worthy of acceptance. Since relying on coercion is not only normatively problematic but also costly and highly inefficient, perceived legitimacy is fundamental to the democratic system. This paper discusses how transparency in and about AI decision-making can affect thepublic’s perceptionof the legitimacy of decisions and decision-makers and produce a framework for analyzing these questions. We argue that a limited form of transparency that focuses on providing justifications for decisions has the potential to provide sufficient ground forperceived legitimacywithout producing the harms full transparency would bring.

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References

Details

Published: Mar 19, 2020
Vol/Issue: 35(4)
Pages: 917-926
License: View

Authors

University of Gothenburg

Cite This Article

Karl de Fine Licht, Jenny De Fine Licht (2020). Artificial intelligence, transparency, and public decision-making. AI & SOCIETY, 35(4), 917-926. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00146-020-00960-w

Artificial intelligence, transparency, and public decision-making

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