Artificial Intelligence and Transparency: Opening the Black Box

TLDR: In this article, the authors argue that designing AI transparency regulation is less difficult than oftentimes assumed, and that the legal system has already gained considerable experience with the question of how to shed light on partially opaque decision-making systems.

Abstract: The alleged opacity of AI has become a major political issue over the past few years. Opening the black box, so it is argued, is indispensable to identify encroachments on user privacy, to detect biases and to prevent other potential harms. However, what is less clear is how the call for AI transparency can be translated into reasonable regulation. This Chapter argues that designing AI transparency regulation is less difficult than oftentimes assumed. Regulators profit from the fact that the legal system has already gained considerable experience with the question of how to shed light on partially opaque decision-making systems—human decisions. This experience provides lawyers with a realistic perspective of the functions of potential AI transparency legislation as well as with a set of legal instruments which can be employed to this end.