Deciding how to respond: A deliberative framework to guide policymaker responses to AI systems

TL;DR

This paper proposes a deliberative framework based on the concept of freedom to guide policymakers in responding to AI systems, emphasizing societal benefits over risk assessments.

Contribution

It introduces a novel framework grounded in philosophical notions of freedom, offering a complementary approach to traditional risk-focused AI regulation.

Findings

Framework structured around coordinative, communicative, and decision spaces.

Operationalizes freedom as capability and opportunity for AI regulation.

Supports more nuanced policymaker responses to AI systems.

Abstract

The discourse on responsible artificial intelligence (AI) regulation is understandably dominated by risk-focused assessments and analyses. This approach reflects the fundamental uncertainty policymakers face when determining appropriate responses to current, emerging and novel AI systems. In this article, we argue that by operationalising the concept of freedom - the philosophical counterpart to responsibility - a complementary approach centred on the potential societal benefits of AI systems can be developed. The result is a discursive framework grounded in freedom as capability and freedom as opportunity, which represent the two main intellectual traditions of interpreting freedom. We contend that the complexity, ambiguity and contestation involved in regulating AI systems make a deliberative paradigm more useful than the conventional technical one. The resulting framework is structured around coordinative, communicative and decision spaces, each with sequential focal points and associated outputs.