130 6 CHAPTER 6 6.3 TECHNICAL INVESTIGATION PHASE In the technical investigation phase, we took the next step and created observable criteria based on the Glass Box framework to answer question five: Q5 To what extent can Human Oversight be translated into observable criteria for the deployment of Autonomous Weapon Systems? The Glass Box approach (Aler Tubella, Theodorou, Dignum, & Dignum, 2019) is a framework for monitoring adherence to the contextual interpretations of abstract values which focuses uniquely on the observable inputs and outputs of an intelligent system. Its focus on the observable aspects of the system’s behaviour makes it particularly apt for monitoring autonomous and generally opaque systems. The Glass Box approach consists of two phases which inform each other: interpretation and observation. The interpretation stage consists of a progressive process of concretising abstract values into specific design requirements. The output from the interpretation stage is an abstract-to-concrete hierarchy of norms where the highest level is made up of values and the lowest level is composed of fine-grained concrete requirements for the intelligent system only related to its inputs and outputs. The second phase of the approach is given by the observation stage. This stage is informed by the requirements on inputs and outputs identified in the interpretation stage, as they determine what must be verified and checked. In the observation stage, the system is evaluated by studying its compliance with the requirements identified in the previous stage. Feedback between interpretation and observation stage throughout the lifespan of the system is necessary: continuous observation informs us on which requirements are consistently unfulfilled, which may prompt changes in the implementation or in the chosen requirements. We projected the two stages of the Glass Box framework on the Comprehensive Human Oversight Framework. The Interpretation stage of the Glass Box framework, in which values in the governance layer are turned into concrete norms, constraining observable elements and actions in the socio-technical layer, which in turn are translated into requirements in the technical layer, is done before deployment. During deployment the behaviour and actions of an autonomous system are monitored in the governance layer and verified in the technical layer in the Observation stage of the Glass Box framework that treats the block in the socio-technical layer as a black box. After deployment a Review stage is required as an accountability process in which a forum in the governance layer can hold an actor in the socio-technical layer accountable for its conduct in the technical layer. The outcome of the Review stage should feed back into the Interpretation stage for a next deployment of an autonomous system and thereby close the loop between the stages.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjY0ODMw