CROSS-DISCIPLINARY FIELD GUIDE

AI and Public Life

How can an organization evaluate an AI-enabled service before relying on it?

Educational PrintableNot field research

Frame the question

How can an organization evaluate an AI-enabled service before relying on it?

Look through several lenses

  • Purpose and affected people
  • Data origin and representativeness
  • Human review and contestability
  • Security, privacy and accessibility
  • Monitoring and exit options

Worked learning case

Illustrative case: a library considers an automated tool that suggests reading material. Map the intended benefit, who may be left out, what staff can review, how a suggestion can be challenged and what happens if the tool is unavailable.

Trade-offs to compare

Consider feasibility, distribution of benefits and burdens, reversibility, time horizon, missing evidence and who should review the result.

Limits

This guide does not certify a system, replace a legal/privacy assessment or establish an IEU AI policy.

Annotated further reading

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