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Main Authors: Cârlan, Carmen, Gomez, Francesca, Mathew, Yohan, Krishna, Ketana, King, René, Gebauer, Peter, Smith, Ben R.
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
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Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2412.17618
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author Cârlan, Carmen
Gomez, Francesca
Mathew, Yohan
Krishna, Ketana
King, René
Gebauer, Peter
Smith, Ben R.
author_facet Cârlan, Carmen
Gomez, Francesca
Mathew, Yohan
Krishna, Ketana
King, René
Gebauer, Peter
Smith, Ben R.
contents Frontier artificial intelligence (AI) systems present both benefits and risks to society. Safety cases - structured arguments supported by evidence - are one way to help ensure the safe development and deployment of these systems. Yet the evolving nature of AI capabilities, as well as changes in the operational environment and understanding of risk, necessitates mechanisms for continuously updating these safety cases. Typically, in other sectors, safety cases are produced pre-deployment and do not require frequent updates post-deployment, which can be a manual, costly process. This paper proposes a Dynamic Safety Case Management System (DSCMS) to support both the initial creation of a safety case and its systematic, semi-automated revision over time. Drawing on methods developed in the autonomous vehicles (AV) sector - state-of-the-art Checkable Safety Arguments (CSA) combined with Safety Performance Indicators (SPIs) recommended by UL 4600, a DSCMS helps developers maintain alignment between system safety claims and the latest system state. We demonstrate this approach on a safety case template for offensive cyber capabilities and suggest ways it can be integrated into governance structures for safety-critical decision-making. While the correctness of the initial safety argument remains paramount - particularly for high-severity risks - a DSCMS provides a framework for adapting to new insights and strengthening incident response. We outline challenges and further work towards development and implementation of this approach as part of continuous safety assurance of frontier AI systems.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2412_17618
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Dynamic safety cases for frontier AI
Cârlan, Carmen
Gomez, Francesca
Mathew, Yohan
Krishna, Ketana
King, René
Gebauer, Peter
Smith, Ben R.
Computers and Society
Frontier artificial intelligence (AI) systems present both benefits and risks to society. Safety cases - structured arguments supported by evidence - are one way to help ensure the safe development and deployment of these systems. Yet the evolving nature of AI capabilities, as well as changes in the operational environment and understanding of risk, necessitates mechanisms for continuously updating these safety cases. Typically, in other sectors, safety cases are produced pre-deployment and do not require frequent updates post-deployment, which can be a manual, costly process. This paper proposes a Dynamic Safety Case Management System (DSCMS) to support both the initial creation of a safety case and its systematic, semi-automated revision over time. Drawing on methods developed in the autonomous vehicles (AV) sector - state-of-the-art Checkable Safety Arguments (CSA) combined with Safety Performance Indicators (SPIs) recommended by UL 4600, a DSCMS helps developers maintain alignment between system safety claims and the latest system state. We demonstrate this approach on a safety case template for offensive cyber capabilities and suggest ways it can be integrated into governance structures for safety-critical decision-making. While the correctness of the initial safety argument remains paramount - particularly for high-severity risks - a DSCMS provides a framework for adapting to new insights and strengthening incident response. We outline challenges and further work towards development and implementation of this approach as part of continuous safety assurance of frontier AI systems.
title Dynamic safety cases for frontier AI
topic Computers and Society
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2412.17618