For Heads-of · Practitioner
Accountability
The principle that individuals and organizations can be held responsible for decisions made by AI systems they deploy, and must be able to explain those decisions to affected parties.
- accountability
- responsibility
- liability
- governance
Legal Basis
Liability and negligence law hold organizations responsible even for unintended harms caused by their systems. Criminal law may apply in extreme cases.
Enabling Accountability
Documentation, audit trails, explainability, human oversight, and mechanisms for affected parties to challenge decisions are essential.
Governance Framework
Accountability requires clear governance: someone must be responsible for each system, authorized to make decisions about deployment and remediation, and empowered to act when issues arise.