Technology Impact Cycle Tool

On transparency and trust

In this whole section we talked about transparency. We stated that AI needs to be transparent and explainable so we can trust the AI.

But, is this really true?

Does explainability and transparency really leads to more trust? What do you think? Do you trust the recommendations by Netflix? Do you think you would trust them more if Netflix explained them? Do you trust the newsfeed in Instagram? Or do you need an explanation? Do you trust the sleep advice of your FitBit? And Google Maps? Or do you want Google Maps to explain itself?

Maybe not explaining the decisions, lead to more trust. After all, why do people trust God?

God moves in mysterious ways. He does not explain his decisions. He does not tell us why he took our loved ones. Or saved them. He doesn’t explain why famine or war or suffering or cruelty is necessary. He is opaque. God is a black box. Maybe that is the reason that so many people trust him. In God they trust.

Do you really think that people would trust God more if he explained himself? Probably not. 

Take aways from section five:

• Maybe (AI)-technology should not be transparent but move in mysterious ways to be trusted!

Some final words on crash course five

Congratulations. You have completed this crash course, so you got a very small taste of thinking about technology and transparency. This was just an appetizer.  If you are going to think about, assess, design, program, discuss, use or invent a technology we would like you to remember that:

• Technology should be transparent about its shortcomings and business model;
• Technology companies should be easy to communicate with;
• Transparency is becoming more important with the emergence of advanced AI (often a black box);
• With advanced AI there is a often a trade-off between transparency and accuracy;
• That is why explainable AI (also in the law) is important;
• But maybe we trust AI more if it is mysterious.

And remember: AI is still pretty weird.

Want more?

This was a crash course. It only took you one hour to complete. If you want more, we have some suggestions:

• First, you can check out section six, with all kinds of additional materials. Section six is updated regularly;
• Second, you can do one of the other ten crash courses;
• Third, you can start using the Technology Impact Cycle Tool, especially the questions regarding transparency;
• Fourth, you can check out our example cases, for example transparency and the Corona Contact Tracing App.

Finally, do you have any suggestions or remarks on this course? Let us know at info@tict.io