Questions to consider in key stages of AI and machine learning based research, regarding sociotechnical context

“The first step is to create an understanding of the AI, its operation, and social impact based on relevant contextual factors. The researcher must scrutinize the social, political, and economic context within which a technology operates, as much as the technology itself. This is particularly pertinent when dealing with AI as the learning models may show patterns that are unexpected. AI can also amplify already existing social hierarchies. The influence of stakeholders (e.g. developers in different communities and organizations inside and outside academia) may be strong when for instance cleaning data, using pretrained models or changing the models. - How would you characterize the social context within which or about which the research is conducted? - Who are the data subjects and affected stakeholders involved in this project (directly or indirectly)? - How would the researcher characterize the norms (e.g. privacy, social hierarchy) and sensitivities in this social context?” - How have these norms and sensitivities influenced the application of AI in gathering data for this research project? - How will the implementation of the AI system or use of the model affect the norms and sensitivities?(franzke et al., 2020, p. 36-37)