How AI Skews Our Sense of Responsibility
MIT Sloan Management Review|Summer 2024
Research shows how using an Al-augmented system may affect humans' perception of their own agency and responsibility.
Ryad Titah
How AI Skews Our Sense of Responsibility

As artificial intelligence plays an everlarger role in automated systems and decision-making processes, the question of how it affects humans’ sense of their own agency is becoming less theoretical — and more urgent. It’s no surprise that humans often defer to automated decision recommendations, with exhortations to “trust the AI!” spurring user adoption in corporate settings. However, there’s growing evidence that AI diminishes users’ sense of responsibility for the consequences of those decisions.

This question is largely overlooked in current discussions about responsible AI. In reality, such practices are intended to manage legal and reputational risk — a limited view of responsibility, if we draw on German philosopher Hans Jonas’s useful conceptualization. He defined three types of responsibility, but AI practice appears concerned with only two. The first is legal responsibility, wherein an individual or corporate entity is held responsible for repairing damage or compensating for losses, typically via civil law, and the second is moral responsibility, wherein individuals are held accountable via punishment, as in criminal law.

What we’re most concerned about here is the third type, what Jonas called the sense of responsibility. It’s what we mean when we speak admiringly of someone “acting responsibly.” It entails critical thinking and predictive reflection on the purpose and possible consequences of one’s actions, not only for oneself but for others. It’s this sense of responsibility that AI and automated systems can alter.

Bu hikaye MIT Sloan Management Review dergisinin Summer 2024 sayısından alınmıştır.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

Bu hikaye MIT Sloan Management Review dergisinin Summer 2024 sayısından alınmıştır.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

MIT SLOAN MANAGEMENT REVIEW DERGISINDEN DAHA FAZLA HIKAYETümünü görüntüle
Avoiding Harm in Technology Innovation
MIT Sloan Management Review

Avoiding Harm in Technology Innovation

To capitalize on emerging technologies while mitigating unanticipated consequences, innovation managers need to establish a systematic review process.

time-read
10+ dak  |
Fall 2024
Make a Stronger Business Case for Sustainability
MIT Sloan Management Review

Make a Stronger Business Case for Sustainability

When greener products and processes add costs, managers can shift other levers to maintain profitability.

time-read
9 dak  |
Fall 2024
How to Turn Professional Services Into Products
MIT Sloan Management Review

How to Turn Professional Services Into Products

Product-based business models can help services firms achieve greater scale and profitability. But the transformation can be challenging.

time-read
10 dak  |
Fall 2024
Do You Really Need a Chief AI Officer?
MIT Sloan Management Review

Do You Really Need a Chief AI Officer?

The right answer depends on the strategic importance and maturity of AI in your company.

time-read
10+ dak  |
Fall 2024
Where To Next? Opportunity on the Edge
MIT Sloan Management Review

Where To Next? Opportunity on the Edge

Doing business in regions considered less stable or developed can pay off for companies. But they must invest in working with local communities.

time-read
10 dak  |
Fall 2024
Make Smarter Investments in Resilient Supply Chains
MIT Sloan Management Review

Make Smarter Investments in Resilient Supply Chains

Many companies invest in resilience only after a disruption. Applying the concept of real options can help decision makers fortify supply chain capabilities no matter the crisis.

time-read
10+ dak  |
Fall 2024
The Three Traps That Stymie Reinvention
MIT Sloan Management Review

The Three Traps That Stymie Reinvention

Organizational identity, architecture, and collaboration can be either assets or liabilities to pursuing growth in new sectors.

time-read
10+ dak  |
Fall 2024
What Makes Companies Do the Right Thing?
MIT Sloan Management Review

What Makes Companies Do the Right Thing?

Vaccine makers varied widely in their engagement with global public health efforts to broaden access to COVID-19 immunizations. Ethically motivated leadership was a dominant factor.

time-read
10+ dak  |
Fall 2024
Build the Right C-Suite Team for Your Strategy
MIT Sloan Management Review

Build the Right C-Suite Team for Your Strategy

CEOs can foster a more effective leadership team by understanding when to tap senior executives' competitive instincts and when to encourage collaboration.

time-read
10+ dak  |
Fall 2024
A Better Way to Unlock Innovation and Drive Change
MIT Sloan Management Review

A Better Way to Unlock Innovation and Drive Change

A strengths-based approach to building teams can win employee commitment to change and foster an inclusive, agile culture.

time-read
10+ dak  |
Fall 2024