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arXiv · 2202.05338

Accountability in an Algorithmic Society: Relationality, Responsibility, and Robustness in Machine Learning

A. Feder Cooper·Emanuel Moss·Benjamin Laufer·Helen Nissenbaum
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Abstract

In 1996, Accountability in a Computerized Society [95] issued a clarion call concerning the erosion of accountability in society due to the ubiquitous delegation of consequential functions to computerized systems. Nissenbaum [95] described four barriers to accountability that computerization presented, which we revisit in relation to the ascendance of data-driven algorithmic systems--i.e., machine learning or artificial intelligence--to uncover new challenges for accountability that these systems present. Nissenbaum's original paper grounded discussion of the barriers in moral philosophy; we bring this analysis together with recent scholarship on relational accountability frameworks and discuss how the barriers present difficulties for instantiating a unified moral, relational framework in practice for data-driven algorithmic systems. We conclude by discussing ways of weakening the barriers in order to do so.

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A. Feder Cooper, Emanuel Moss, Benjamin Laufer, Helen Nissenbaum. 2022-05-13. Accountability in an Algorithmic Society: Relationality, Responsibility, and Robustness in Machine Learning. https://doi.org/10.1145/3531146.3533150

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