ETHICS AND SOCIETAL IMPACT

KEY TERMS REVIEW Honest capability claim: a description that stays true on the system's worst day. Transparency: openness with users that they are dealing with automation. Autonomy: the freedom an agent has to act without supervision. Over-reliance: trusting a system more than its record deserves. Rubber-stamping: approving without real scrutiny. CHECK YOUR UNDERSTANDING • What is a simple test for an honest capability claim? ◦ Answer: Ask whether the description would still be true on the system's worst day. • Why label an agent as an agent from the first message? ◦ Answer: So that users do not mistake it for a human and can judge how much to trust it. • Give one way to reduce a system's resource use. ◦ Answer: Use a smaller model for simple tasks, avoid repeated calls, or reuse work safely. • What is rubber-stamping and how can it be countered? ◦ Answer: It is approving drafts without real scrutiny, and it can be countered by slipping in known-flawed drafts, rotating reviewers, and requiring reasons for higher-risk approvals. • Why is it important to ask whether the people affected by an agent could notice and object to its actions? ◦ Answer: Because harm that people cannot notice cannot be corrected, so those affected need a way to see and challenge what the system does.