Designing a Smart Electric Vehicle Charge Point of Algorithmic Transparency

Designing a Smart Electric Vehicle Charge Point of Algorithmic Transparency: Doing Harm by Doing Good?

Alfrink, Kars (TU Delft Internet of Things)
Doorn, N. (TU Delft Ethics & Philosophy of Technology)
Keller, A.I. (TU Delft Design Conceptualization and Communication)
Kortuem, G.W. (TU Delft Internet of Things)

Luusua, A. (editor)
Ylipulli, J. (editor)

2020

The increasing use of algorithms in cities has come under scrutiny. Transparency is widely seen as a way to ensure their fairness and accountability. We investigate how al- gorithmic transparency helps citizens understand smart electric vehicle charge points and how its conception differs between experts and citizens. Using a research-through-
design approach we collaborated over a 10-month period with companies and Amsterdam municipality to prototype and evaluate a transparent smart electric vehicle charge
point. We find that experts believe transparency is pro- duced by truthful information about inputs, processes and outcomes, that this information aids understanding and is
actionable. We also find that citizens are indifferent to al-gorithmic decision-making when it serves common interests. Furthermore, transparency invites gaming, creates
expectations of control, and adds to the cognitive burden of an already stressful task. Our findings suggest algorithmic transparency benefits professional stakeholders more than
the citizens it is claimed to serve.

Transparency
Algorithms
Electric vehicle charging

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:71fcd249-cba8-4d6b-9aab-c209d951f007

Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), New York, NY, USA

Proceedings of the ACM conference on Designing Interactive Systems (DIS) 2020

2020 ACM Conference on Designing Interactive Systems, DIS 2020 (Virtual/online event due to COVID-19)
, 2020-07-06 → 2020-07-10, Eindhoven, Netherlands

Institutional Repository

conference paper

© 2020 Kars Alfrink, N. Doorn, A.I. Keller, G.W. Kortuem