Work

All you need is…. justification: algorithmic justifiability trumps transparency

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: Most ethical guidelines on AI tout algorithmic transparency, the openness of an algorithm’s inner workings to human scrutiny, as an important desideratum in algorithmic deployment. Algorithmic transparency has been touted as important for valuable goals like procedural fairness, AI trustworthiness, contestability and planning around AI decision-making. This paper argues that these goals are better served by a distinct desideratum, algorithmic justifiability, the ability of an algorithm to provide understanding about why the algorithm’s decision is correct.

Source: Ethics and Information Technology

DOI: 10.1007/s10676-026-09892-3

Authors: Anantharaman Muralidharan, Julian Savulescu

Institutions: National University of Singapore, University of Oxford

Language: English

Topic: Ethics and Social Impacts of AI

Subfield: Safety Research

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $2,190

Funders: Ministry of Health -Singapore, National Research Foundation Singapore, National University Health System