揭示AI系统未开发或中止的六大真实因素,超越伦理考量。
To Build or Not to Build? Factors that Lead to Non-Development or Abandonment of AI Systems
- 构建六类影响因素分类体系:伦理、利益相关者反馈、技术挑战等。
- 实证发现非伦理因素(如资源、组织问题)更常导致项目终止。
- 为负责任AI研究提供早期干预新视角,适合政策与企业决策者。
负责任AI研究通常聚焦已部署系统的使用与影响,但对早期是否启动开发决策的可见性仍有限。早期决策决定了最终发布的系统,是潜在但未被充分探索的干预点。本文通过文献综述、社会资源及行业报告的范畴分析,构建了六类导致AI系统放弃的因子分类:伦理关切、利益相关者反馈、开发生命周期挑战、组织动态、资源约束与法律/监管问题。随后,基于AI事故数据库和从业者调查,收集现实案例数据,对比部署前与部署后导致放弃的因素。实证分析表明,尽管学术界强调伦理风险,但现实中更多是非伦理因素驱动放弃。综合分类体系与案例分析,本文指出当前负责任AI研究在应对多样化影响因素方面的缺口,并提出应更全面支持组织在开发阶段的合理取舍决策。
原文摘要 · Abstract (English)
Responsible AI research typically focuses on examining the use and impacts of deployed AI systems. Yet, there is currently limited visibility into the pre-deployment decisions to pursue building such systems in the first place. Decisions taken in the earlier stages of development shape which systems are ultimately released, and therefore represent potential, but underexplored, points for intervention. As such, this paper investigates factors influencing AI non-development and abandonment throughout the development lifecycle. Specifically, we first perform a scoping review of academic literature, civil society resources, and grey literature including journalism and industry reports. Through thematic analysis of these sources, we develop a taxonomy of six categories of factors contributing to AI abandonment: ethical concerns, stakeholder feedback, development lifecycle challenges, organizational dynamics, resource constraints, and legal/regulatory concerns. Then, we collect data on real-world case of AI system abandonment via an AI incident database and a practitioner survey to evidence and compare factors that drive abandonment both prior to and following system deployment. While academic responsible AI communities often emphasize ethical risks as reasons to not develop AI, our empirical analysis of these cases demonstrates the diverse, and often non-ethics-related, levers that motivate organizations to abandon AI development. Synthesizing evidence from our taxonomy and related case study analyses, we identify gaps and opportunities in current responsible AI research to (1) engage with the diverse range of levers that influence organizations to abandon AI development, and (2) better support appropriate (dis)engagement with AI system development.
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