Event precursors to algorithm abandonment

Determine the specific types and sequences of events that precede and precipitate organizational decisions to abandon harmful algorithmic systems, where algorithm abandonment is defined as an organization’s decision to discontinue designing, developing, or using an algorithmic system due to its potential harms, in order to understand abandonment as a mechanism of harm mitigation and accountability.

Background

The paper conceptualizes algorithm abandonment as an organizational decision to discontinue the design, development, or use of an algorithmic system because of its potential harms. Despite rising campaigns and some successes, many harmful systems persist and the timing and pathways to abandonment vary widely.

The authors frame key open questions to guide systematic paper of abandonment dynamics, aiming to map the antecedent events that lead proprietors to discontinue harmful systems and to better inform accountability and harm mitigation efforts.