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Societal System Harms
Cultural harms

Information harms

Sociotechnical Harms of Algorithmic Systems: Scoping a Taxonomy for Harm Reduction

Shelby et al. (2023)

SourceDOI
Sub-category
Risk Domain
3Misinformation
3.1False or misleading information

AI systems that inadvertently generate or spread incorrect or deceptive information, which can lead to inaccurate beliefs in users and undermine their autonomy. Humans that make decisions based on false beliefs can experience physical, emotional or material harms

information-based harms capture concerns of misinformation, disinformation, and malinformation. Algorithmic systems, especially generative models and recommender, systems can lead to these information harms(p. 733)

Entity— Who or what caused the harm

Human

Due to a decision or action made by humans

AI system

Due to a decision or action made by an AI system

Other

Due to some other reason or is ambiguous

Intent— Whether the harm was intentional or accidental

Intentional

Due to an expected outcome from pursuing a goal

Unintentional

Due to an unexpected outcome from pursuing a goal

Other

Without clearly specifying the intentionality

Timing— Whether the risk is pre- or post-deployment

Pre-deployment

Occurring before the AI is deployed

Post-deployment

Occurring after the AI model has been trained and deployed

Other

Without a clearly specified time of occurrence

Part of Societal System Harms

Other risks from Shelby et al. (2023) (24)

Representational Harms

1.1 Unfair discrimination and misrepresentation
OtherUnintentionalPost-deployment

Representational Harms > Stereotyping social groups

1.1 Unfair discrimination and misrepresentation
AI systemUnintentionalPost-deployment

Representational Harms > Demeaning social groups

1.1 Unfair discrimination and misrepresentation
AI systemUnintentionalPost-deployment

Representational Harms > Erasing social groups

1.3 Unequal performance across groups
HumanUnintentionalOther

Representational Harms > Alienating social groups

1.1 Unfair discrimination and misrepresentation
AI systemUnintentionalPost-deployment

Representational Harms > Denying people the opportunity to self-identify

1.1 Unfair discrimination and misrepresentation
AI systemUnintentionalPost-deployment
View all 24 risks from this paper →