Accountable AI: It Takes Two to Tango
Jorge Constantino · Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG eBooks · 2025
This Chapter argues that accountable artificial intelligence (AI) requires examining the role of humans in AI development and deployment.Hence, it discusses the importance of addressing the obligations of deployers and developers of AI systems to achieve accountable AI.The EU AI Act has implemented measures such as transparency or technical obligations to achieve such accountability.Similarly, it has implemented human oversight requirements outlined in Arts.14 and 26 against high-risk AI systems.Some scholars and practitioners may argue that Art. 14 only applies to developers of AI systems.However, we understand that human oversight requirements govern both actors.Human oversight cannot be applied in isolation by requiring compliance of only one party.Otherwise, it would defeat the purpose of adding human control features to prevent AI systems from harming fundamental rights.Based on this perspective, we propose that (at least) two actors are required to make accountable AI more tangible.Nonetheless, we are conscious that this legislation is in its infancy, and only time will tell how human oversight obligations (Arts.14 and 26) are to be applied -whether in isolation or in conjunction. An introduction to AI systemsArtificial intelligence (AI) is currently used in the public and private sectors in such fields as policing, the judicial system, employment, taxes and finances, retailers, media, and entertainment (Maclure, 2020, pp.2-3; Sipola et al, 2024, p. 5).The definition or conceptualisation of AI is far from settled (Kuziemski and Misuraca, 2020, p. 2).For instance, AI may be simply defined as computers or machines showing human-like intelligence (Simmons and Chappell, 1988, p. 14) (DK, 2023, p. 7).Alternatively, some academics have described AI as the umbrella term that refers to a set of algorithmic models, methods, or instructions given to a computer 95