The DOI matches its Crossref record; 208 of the 218 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Outlining Traceability: A Principle for Operationalizing Accountability in Computing Systems
Open accessAbstract
Accountability is widely understood as a goal for well governed computer systems, and is a sought-after value in many governance contexts. But how can it be achieved? Recent work on standards for governable artificial intelligence systems offers a related principle: traceability. Traceability requires establishing not only how a system worked but how it was created and for what purpose, in a way that explains why a system has particular dynamics or behaviors. It connects records of how the system was constructed and what the system did mechanically to the broader goals of governance, in a way that highlights human understanding of that mechanical operation and the decision processes underlying it. We examine the various ways in which the principle of traceability has been articulated in AI principles and other policy documents from around the world, distill from these a set of requirements on software systems driven by the principle, and systematize the technologies available to meet those requirements. From our map of requirements to supporting tools, techniques, and procedures, we identify gaps and needs separating what traceability requires from the toolbox available for practitioners. This map reframes existing discussions around accountability and transparency, using the principle of traceability to show how, when, and why transparency can be deployed to serve accountability goals and thereby improve the normative fidelity of systems and their development processes.
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From From Google Gemini to OpenAI Q* (Q-Star): A Survey on Reshaping the Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) Research Landscape (2025) · cites this paper as [269]
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Towards a standard for identifying and managing bias in artificial intelligence
Schwartz, R., Vassilev, A., Greene, K., Perine, L., Burt, A., & Hall, P. (2022) · doi:10.6028/nist.sp.1270 · Cited by 548
“And without proper governance, excising context and flattening the categories into numerical constructs makes traceability more difficult [124].”
BackgroundMcIntosh, T. R., Susnjak, T., Liu, T., Watters, P., Xu, D., Liu, D., & Halgamuge, M. N. (2025) · Technologies · doi:10.3390/technologies13020051 · Cited by 102
“Furthermore, AI Ethics involves ensuring traceability, auditability, and transparency throughout the model development lifecycle, employing practices such as algorithmic auditing, establishing ethics boards, and adhering to documentation standards and model cards [237], [236].”
MethodFedele, A., Punzi, C., & Tramacere, S. (2024) · Computer law & security review · doi:10.1016/j.clsr.2024.105986 · Cited by 67
Lewicki, K., Lee, M. S. A., Cobbe, J., & Singh, J. (2023) · Proceedings of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems · doi:10.1145/3544548.3581463 · Cited by 30
Assessing Ethical and Legal Implications for a Trustworthy Ai Development in EducationPreprint
Punzi, C., Fedele, A., & Tramacere, S. (2023) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.4494528 · Cited by 1
Metadata
- Authors
- Kroll, J. A.
- Affiliations
- Naval Postgraduate School (US)
- Corresponding author
- Kroll, Joshua A.
- ORCID
- Kroll, Joshua A.
- Venue
- Proceedings of the 2021 ACM Conference on Fairness, Accountability, and Transparency
- Publisher
- ACM
- Published
- 2021-03
- Pages
- 758-771
- OpenAlex
- W3122480037
- Cited by
- 2
- References
- 218
- Citations by year
- 2024: 1 · 2023: 1
- FWCI
- 0.45
- Type
- conference paper
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- arxiv.org
- Locations
- ACM Conference on Fairness, Accountability, and Transparency (FAccT) (publishedVersion)
- arXiv (Cornell University) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Artificial Intelligence › Ethics and Social Impacts of AI
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Artificial Intelligence › Explainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI)
- Social Sciences › Law › Digitalization, Law, and Regulation
- Keywords
- traceability, accountability, transparency, AI governance, AI principles, explainable AI, software traceability, requirements mapping, decision processes
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