The Missing Variable: Socio-Technical Alignment in Risk Evaluation
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arXiv
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| Autori principali: | , , |
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| Natura: | Preprint |
| Pubblicazione: |
2025
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| _version_ | 1866915659019976704 |
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| author | Flehmig, Niclas Lundteigen, Mary Ann Yin, Shen |
| author_facet | Flehmig, Niclas Lundteigen, Mary Ann Yin, Shen |
| contents | This paper addresses a critical gap in the risk assessment of AI-enabled safety-critical systems. While these systems, where AI systems assists human operators, function as complex socio-technical systems, existing risk evaluation methods fail to account for the associated complex interaction between human, technical, and organizational elements. Through a comparative analysis of system attributes from both socio-technical and AI-enabled systems and a review of current risk evaluation methods, we confirm the absence of socio-technical considerations in standard risk expressions. To bridge this gap, we introduce a novel socio-technical alignment $STA$ variable designed to be integrated into the foundational risk equation. This variable estimates the degree of harmonious interaction between the AI systems, human operators, and organizational processes. A case study on an AI-enabled liquid hydrogen bunkering system demonstrates the variable's relevance. By comparing a naive and a safeguarded system design, we illustrate how the $STA$-augmented expression captures socio-technical safety implications that traditional risk evaluation overlooks, providing a more holistic basis for risk evaluation. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2512_06354 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | The Missing Variable: Socio-Technical Alignment in Risk Evaluation Flehmig, Niclas Lundteigen, Mary Ann Yin, Shen Computers and Society Human-Computer Interaction Systems and Control This paper addresses a critical gap in the risk assessment of AI-enabled safety-critical systems. While these systems, where AI systems assists human operators, function as complex socio-technical systems, existing risk evaluation methods fail to account for the associated complex interaction between human, technical, and organizational elements. Through a comparative analysis of system attributes from both socio-technical and AI-enabled systems and a review of current risk evaluation methods, we confirm the absence of socio-technical considerations in standard risk expressions. To bridge this gap, we introduce a novel socio-technical alignment $STA$ variable designed to be integrated into the foundational risk equation. This variable estimates the degree of harmonious interaction between the AI systems, human operators, and organizational processes. A case study on an AI-enabled liquid hydrogen bunkering system demonstrates the variable's relevance. By comparing a naive and a safeguarded system design, we illustrate how the $STA$-augmented expression captures socio-technical safety implications that traditional risk evaluation overlooks, providing a more holistic basis for risk evaluation. |
| title | The Missing Variable: Socio-Technical Alignment in Risk Evaluation |
| topic | Computers and Society Human-Computer Interaction Systems and Control |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2512.06354 |