AI and Technology Assessment Framework, Institutions and Experimental Attempts

Abstract

　 Technology assessment is undertaking of assessing social implications of technology and conveying the results of assessment to stakeholders for supporting their decision and policy making. This article picks up major potential issues of technology assessment relating to artificial intelligence (AI) and reviews institutional options of technology assessment, that is, international technology assessment, technology assessment by research institutes, setting up and utilization of fund by government for technology assessment implemented by various institutes, technology assessment by national governments (legislative branch and administrative branch). After reviewing the attempts of technology assessment in general and experiments of technology assessment on AI by various institutions, one experimental attempts by IICP (Institute for Information and Communications Policy) by MIC (Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communication) of Japan is analyzed. This experiment by IICP has characteristics in that technology assessment is undertaken with some distance from the R＆D and the actual utilization of technology and that target of technology assessment is rather comprehensive compared to other attempts of technology assessment by other institutions. The issues of relationship between developers and users (providers of data set for learning) and the issues of transition when users of AI and non-users of AI coexist are identified. Finally, actual and potential impact of AI on political decision making is also briefly analyzed, as one aspect of social implications.