https://russellparrott.eu/ Plain-English writing on AI accountability, evidential responsibility, and what can actually be shown after automated decisions are challenged. en-gb Sun, 10 May 2026 12:00:00 GMT Manual RSS Feed https://russellparrott.eu/articles/the_shift_from_governance_to_reconstruction.html https://russellparrott.eu/articles/the_shift_from_governance_to_reconstruction.html Mon, 11 May 2026 11:00:00 GMT For a long time, most organisations expected accountability to depend mainly on explanation. If something went wrong, they described the process, referred to policies, pointed to oversight structures, and explained what was supposed to happen. In many cases that was enough, because very little else survived. Decisions disappeared into meetings, conversations, emails, reports and human recollection. The institution’s account of events carried most of the weight because there was often no practical way to reconstruct the event itself in detail afterwards. https://russellparrott.eu/articles/when-machine-output-starts-looking-like-evidence.html https://russellparrott.eu/articles/when-machine-output-starts-looking-like-evidence.html Mon, 11 May 2026 11:00:00 GMT Responsibility is one of the most overused and least examined ideas in governance. Organisations regularly describe who is responsible for systems, who owns operational risk, who supervises controls, who approves deployments, and who oversees compliance. Governance documents are filled with accountable executives, designated roles, delegated authority structures, approval committees, and reporting lines. The existence of these structures is often treated as proof that accountability exists. https://russellparrott.eu/articles/the-shift-from-governance-to-proof.html https://russellparrott.eu/articles/the-shift-from-governance-to-proof.html Sun, 10 May 2026 12:00:00 GMT When a regulator, court or insurer examines a disputed outcome the discussion narrows very quickly. Broad descriptions of governance stop mattering on their own. The focus shifts to one decision affecting one person at one point in time. What happened, who allowed it, what records existed before it occurred, what evidence shows the outcome actually took place and what basis permitted it at that moment. https://russellparrott.eu/articles/the_importance_of_dareb.html https://russellparrott.eu/articles/the_importance_of_dareb.html Sun, 10 May 2026 12:00:00 GMT DAREB matters because accountability is ultimately tested through one specific decision, not through governance claims in general. Most organisations can describe policies, oversight structures, approval processes, and responsible roles, but far fewer can show one challenged decision from beginning to end using records and evidence that already exist. https://russellparrott.eu/articles/who_can_be_shown_to_be_responsible.html https://russellparrott.eu/articles/who_can_be_shown_to_be_responsible.html Sat, 09 May 2026 12:00:00 GMT This article examines how DAREB changes accountability from a broad organisational claim into a specific evidential question. It explores the difference between assigning responsibility in governance structures and being able to demonstrate who actually held the authority for one challenged decision at the moment it occurred. https://russellparrott.eu/dareb-test.html https://russellparrott.eu/dareb-test.html Fri, 08 May 2026 12:00:00 GMT DAREB defines five things that must be capable of being shown when a single automated or AI-assisted decision is challenged: the decision, the authority, the record, the evidence, and the basis.