When and Why Implementing Bad AI Algorithms Feels Worse Than Self-initiating Them
Bar Shlomo, Amos Schurr, Simone Moran · Academy of Management Proceedings · 2023
Algorithm regulation – i.e., the question of who should be authorized to decide which algorithms to implement, portrays a key ethical debate regarding AI. We focus on AI programmers, who play a central role in AI deployment processes. Findings of three studies suggest that compared to Low-agency programmers who are instructed which algorithm to implement, high agency programmers who freely choose which algorithm to employ, engage in a pre-justification process, and are thus better equipped to overcome cognitive-dissonance when encountering fatal unfavorable outcomes, and feel less responsibility, guilt, and regret about both their programming and the outcome.