History has taught us that not all innovation is good innovation. Just take for example the ecological devastation the DDT and the carcinogenic asbestos have caused. The advancement in new technologies like AI, IoT, autonomous robots and big data brings with it plenty of uncertai
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History has taught us that not all innovation is good innovation. Just take for example the ecological devastation the DDT and the carcinogenic asbestos have caused. The advancement in new technologies like AI, IoT, autonomous robots and big data brings with it plenty of uncertainties, risks and ethical questions that need answers to if we wish to reap their benefits safely. We need these technologies to tackle some of the greater challenges of your society (like sustainability) but at the same time, we require ways to know how they should be deployed responsibly. This project focuses on the responsible deployment of technologies in the city of Amsterdam and this project has been done in collaboration with the Cities of Things Labs and the AMS institute. The project starts with an initial problem statement of “How can the “Principles for Accountable Algorithms and a Social Impact Statement for Algorithms” be used to develop a strategic framework for responsible Al innovation in Amsterdam” and to answer this question a literature review was done, Municipalities were researched, perception of the citizens were researched and in order to understand the relation of devices to the city a technology called Scan Cars was researched. Later in the project, the initial problem statement was reformulated into a change statement. The formulated change statement was “I want citizens to get well informed about what data collecting devices are doing in public spaces so that citizens can help authorities decide what is best for them” the value of transparency and the ladder of citizen participation were seen as means for achieving the above statement. The final design that was developed is a mobile application that shows citizens where the various data collecting devices are around them in the city, what actions do these devices take after they collect the data, how do the devices work and it gives citizens the opportunity to respond to these devices by either asking a question, giving feedback or participate in programs that work to improve the way of working of these devices in the city. In order to ensure technologies responsible usage in the city, it is important to reduce as many uncertainties about the devices as possible. This can be done by making sure every citizen has the channels to ask questions, give feedback and even raise their voices against these devices anonymously. It is also part of the municipalities “inclusive digital city” ambitions and interests to work on such platforms. In conclusion, the application is one such channel that the city should be developing for informing and empowering their citizens and the recommendations given in the report can be the first steps for fully developing the application.