Recognizing Lawyers as AI Creators and Intermediaries in Contestability

Abstract: Laws play a key role in the complex socio-technical system impacting contestability: they create the regulations shaping the way AI systems are designed, evaluated, and used. Despite their role in the AI value chain, lawyers' impact on contestability has gone largely unrecognized in the design of AI systems. In this paper, we highlight two main roles lawyers play that impact contestability: (1) as AI Creators because the regulations they create shape the design and evaluation of AI systems before they are deployed; and (2) as Intermediaries because they interpret regulations when harm occurs, navigating the gap between stakeholders, instutions, and harmful outcomes. We use these two roles to illuminate new opportunities and challenges for including lawyers in the design of AI systems, contributing a significant first step in practical recommendations to amplify the power to contest systems through cross-disciplinary design.