Understanding the Digital Disability Creation Process and Bridging the Gap Between Responsible AI Design and Disability Frameworks

Abstract

Perceptions and assumptions about the nature of disability and its causes influence AI designers and shape the design of AI products. Disability Studies is a multidisciplinary academic field concerned with understanding disability and improving the lives of Persons with Disabilities (PWD). Disability frameworks developed within this field have been integrated to improve design and policies in many sectors, including mobility, healthcare and welfare. In the last few years, several activists and scholars have used these disability frameworks to speak out against the ableist perceptions and practices dominating the AI research and industry. However, very few efforts have been made to leverage these frameworks to improve the design of AI systems in the context of disability. This paper is an attempt to mind and bridge this gap. We will first focus on the concept of “Disability Creation” in the digital context and, more specifically, AI. We will examine conceptual, ethical, and legal disability frameworks and identify factors that contribute to the creation or alleviation of disabling situations linked to the use of AI. Finally, we will map these factors in a novel design-oriented framework for inclusive AI called D-DCP and inspired by HDM-DCP, the “Human Development Model and Disability Creation Process”.