A Framework for Automated Measurement of Responsible AI Harms in Generative AI Applications

We present a framework for the automated measurement of responsible AI (RAI) metrics for large language models (LLMs) and associated products and services. Our framework for automatically measuring harms from LLMs builds on existing technical and sociotechnical expertise and leverages the capabilities of state-of-the-art LLMs, such as GPT-4. We use this framework to run through several case studies investigating how different LLMs may violate a range of RAI-related principles. The framework may be employed alongside domain-specific sociotechnical expertise to create measurements for new harm areas in the future. By implementing this framework, we aim to enable more advanced harm measurement efforts and further the responsible use of LLMs.

"One-size-fits-all"? Observations and Expectations of NLG Systems Across Identity-Related Language Features

Fairness-related assumptions about what constitutes appropriate NLG system behaviors range from invariance, where systems are expected to respond identically to social groups, to adaptation, where responses should instead vary across them. We design and conduct five case studies, in which we perturb different types of identity-related language features (names, roles, locations, dialect, and style) in NLG system inputs to illuminate tensions around invariance and adaptation. We outline people's expectations of system behaviors, and surface potential caveats of these two contrasting yet commonly-held assumptions. We find that motivations for adaptation include social norms, cultural differences, feature-specific information, and accommodation; motivations for invariance include perspectives that favor prescriptivism, view adaptation as unnecessary or too difficult for NLG systems to do appropriately, and are wary of false assumptions. Our findings highlight open challenges around defining what constitutes fair NLG system behavior.

Measuring Representational Harms in Image Captioning

Previous work has largely considered the fairness of image captioning systems through the underspecified lens of "bias." In contrast, we present a set of techniques for measuring five types of representational harms, as well as the resulting measurements obtained for two of the most popular image captioning datasets using a state-of-the-art image captioning system. Our goal was not to audit this image captioning system, but rather to develop normatively grounded measurement techniques, in turn providing an opportunity to reflect on the many challenges involved. We propose multiple measurement techniques for each type of harm. We argue that by doing so, we are better able to capture the multi-faceted nature of each type of harm, in turn improving the (collective) validity of the resulting measurements. Throughout, we discuss the assumptions underlying our measurement approach and point out when they do not hold.

Understanding Machine Learning Practitioners' Data Documentation Perceptions, Needs, Challenges, and Desiderata

Data is central to the development and evaluation of machine learning (ML) models. However, the use of problematic or inappropriate datasets can result in harms when the resulting models are deployed. To encourage responsible AI practice through more deliberate reflection on datasets and transparency around the processes by which they are created, researchers and practitioners have begun to advocate for increased data documentation and have proposed several data documentation frameworks. However, there is little research on whether these data documentation frameworks meet the needs of ML practitioners, who both create and consume datasets. To address this gap, we set out to understand ML practitioners' data documentation perceptions, needs, challenges, and desiderata, with the goal of deriving design requirements that can inform future data documentation frameworks. We conducted a series of semi-structured interviews with 14 ML practitioners at a single large, international technology company. We had them answer a list of questions taken from datasheets for datasets (Gebru, 2021). Our findings show that current approaches to data documentation are largely ad hoc and myopic in nature. Participants expressed needs for data documentation frameworks to be adaptable to their contexts, integrated into their existing tools and workflows, and automated wherever possible. Despite the fact that data documentation frameworks are often motivated from the perspective of responsible AI, participants did not make the connection between the questions that they were asked to answer and their responsible AI implications. In addition, participants often had difficulties prioritizing the needs of dataset consumers and providing information that someone unfamiliar with their datasets might need to know. Based on these findings, we derive seven design requirements for future data documentation frameworks.

REAL ML: Recognizing, Exploring, and Articulating Limitations of Machine Learning Research

Transparency around limitations can improve the scientific rigor of research, help ensure appropriate interpretation of research findings, and make research claims more credible. Despite these benefits, the machine learning (ML) research community lacks well-developed norms around disclosing and discussing limitations. To address this gap, we conduct an iterative design process with 30 ML and ML-adjacent researchers to develop and test REAL ML, a set of guided activities to help ML researchers recognize, explore, and articulate the limitations of their research. Using a three-stage interview and survey study, we identify ML researchers' perceptions of limitations, as well as the challenges they face when recognizing, exploring, and articulating limitations. We develop REAL ML to address some of these practical challenges, and highlight additional cultural challenges that will require broader shifts in community norms to address. We hope our study and REAL ML help move the ML research community toward more active and appropriate engagement with limitations.

Assessing the Fairness of AI Systems: AI Practitioners' Processes, Challenges, and Needs for Support

Various tools and practices have been developed to support practitioners in identifying, assessing, and mitigating fairness-related harms caused by AI systems. However, prior research has highlighted gaps between the intended design of these tools and practices and their use within particular contexts, including gaps caused by the role that organizational factors play in shaping fairness work. In this paper, we investigate these gaps for one such practice: disaggregated evaluations of AI systems, intended to uncover performance disparities between demographic groups. By conducting semi-structured interviews and structured workshops with thirty-three AI practitioners from ten teams at three technology companies, we identify practitioners' processes, challenges, and needs for support when designing disaggregated evaluations. We find that practitioners face challenges when choosing performance metrics, identifying the most relevant direct stakeholders and demographic groups on which to focus, and collecting datasets with which to conduct disaggregated evaluations. More generally, we identify impacts on fairness work stemming from a lack of engagement with direct stakeholders, business imperatives that prioritize customers over marginalized groups, and the drive to deploy AI systems at scale.

Doubly Non-Central Beta Matrix Factorization for DNA Methylation Data

We present a new non-negative matrix factorization model for $(0,1)$ bounded-support data based on the doubly non-central beta (DNCB) distribution, a generalization of the beta distribution. The expressiveness of the DNCB distribution is particularly useful for modeling DNA methylation datasets, which are typically highly dispersed and multi-modal; however, the model structure is sufficiently general that it can be adapted to many other domains where latent representations of $(0,1)$ bounded-support data are of interest. Although the DNCB distribution lacks a closed-form conjugate prior, several augmentations let us derive an efficient posterior inference algorithm composed entirely of analytic updates. Our model improves out-of-sample predictive performance on both real and synthetic DNA methylation datasets over state-of-the-art methods in bioinformatics. In addition, our model yields meaningful latent representations that accord with existing biological knowledge.

A Human-Centered Interpretability Framework Based on Weight of Evidence

In this paper, we take a human-centered approach to interpretable machine learning. First, drawing inspiration from the study of explanation in philosophy, cognitive science, and the social sciences, we propose a list of design principles for machine-generated explanations that are meaningful to humans. Using the concept of weight of evidence from information theory, we develop a method for producing explanations that adhere to these principles. We show that this method can be adapted to handle high-dimensional, multi-class settings, yielding a flexible meta-algorithm for generating explanations. We demonstrate that these explanations can be estimated accurately from finite samples and are robust to small perturbations of the inputs. We also evaluate our method through a qualitative user study with machine learning practitioners, where we observe that the resulting explanations are usable despite some participants struggling with background concepts like prior class probabilities. Finally, we conclude by surfacing design implications for interpretability tools

Designing Disaggregated Evaluations of AI Systems: Choices, Considerations, and Tradeoffs

Several pieces of work have uncovered performance disparities by conducting "disaggregated evaluations" of AI systems. We build on these efforts by focusing on the choices that must be made when designing a disaggregated evaluation, as well as some of the key considerations that underlie these design choices and the tradeoffs between these considerations. We argue that a deeper understanding of the choices, considerations, and tradeoffs involved in designing disaggregated evaluations will better enable researchers, practitioners, and the public to understand the ways in which AI systems may be underperforming for particular groups of people.

Language (Technology) is Power: A Critical Survey of "Bias" in NLP

We survey 146 papers analyzing "bias" in NLP systems, finding that their motivations are often vague, inconsistent, and lacking in normative reasoning, despite the fact that analyzing "bias" is an inherently normative process. We further find that these papers' proposed quantitative techniques for measuring or mitigating "bias" are poorly matched to their motivations and do not engage with the relevant literature outside of NLP. Based on these findings, we describe the beginnings of a path forward by proposing three recommendations that should guide work analyzing "bias" in NLP systems. These recommendations rest on a greater recognition of the relationships between language and social hierarchies, encouraging researchers and practitioners to articulate their conceptualizations of "bias"---i.e., what kinds of system behaviors are harmful, in what ways, to whom, and why, as well as the normative reasoning underlying these statements---and to center work around the lived experiences of members of communities affected by NLP systems, while interrogating and reimagining the power relations between technologists and such communities.