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Psychological Patterns & the AI Act Proposal

DR MARK LEISER

VU-AMSTERDAM

DECEPTIVE.DESIGN

ALLAI CONFERENCE

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Simple

    • ‘Tricks used in websites and apps that make you do things that you did not mean to, like buying or signing up for something’” <darkpatterns.org

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What are �dark patterns?

Two meanings (Leiser, 2020):

    • Catch-all for complaining about all the things we do not like about a website’s design
    • Coercive and manipulative design technique typically used by web designers when some sort of action is needed from a user

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  • Overt, Obvious, within the User Interface
  • Recognizable by Regulators or Auditors
    • E.g., Obscuring Buttons, Prechecked Boxes

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Visible Dark Patterns

 Darkest Patterns

 Darker Patterns

  • Subtle, elusive
  • Consequences only realised after they have happened
  • Further scrutiny needed by regulatory authorities & expert auditors
  • e.g., hiding away information, forced practices
  • Integrated into the system architecture of an Online Service
    • e.g., algorithmic/ai based personalised practices that steer users, sometimes subconsciously, toward undesirable choices

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Article 25, Digital Services Act

  • 1. Providers of online platforms shall not design, organise or operate their online interfaces in a way that deceives or manipulates the recipients of their service or in a way that otherwise materially distorts or impairs the ability of the recipients of their service to make free and informed decisions.
  • �2. The prohibition in paragraph 1 shall not apply to practices covered by Directive 2005/29/EC or Regulation (EU) 2016/679.

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<from dark patterns to deceptive design>

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Psychological Patterns

SENSORY MANIPULATION

ALGORITHMIC MANIPULATION

BEHAVIOURAL CONDITIONING

SYSTEM DEPENDENCY AND CONTROL

STRUCTURAL MANIPULATION

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Article 5 (1) (a) & (b)

  • The following artificial intelligence practices shall be prohibited:
  • (a)the placing on the market, putting into service or use of an AI system that deploys subliminal techniques beyond a person’s consciousness in order to materially distort a person’s behaviour in a manner that causes or is likely to cause that person or another person physical or psychological harm;
  • (b)the placing on the market, putting into service or use of an AI system that exploits any of the vulnerabilities of a specific group of persons due to their age, physical or mental disability, in order to materially distort the behaviour of a person pertaining to that group in a manner that causes or is likely to cause that person or another person physical or psychological harm;

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Interpretation of Article 5 �

  • Covert Techniques: proposes a ban on covert subliminal techniques that can cause significant physical or psychological harm.
  • Interpretation Issues: “Beyond consciousness" is subject to varied interpretations, making it challenging to establish a clear causal link between manipulation & harm.
  • Causality Challenge: Proving causality between AI manipulation and resulting harm is intricate, necessitating clear guidelines and methodologies for assessment.

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Rectifying the ambiguities in Article 5 of the AI Act

  • Clarity of Unclear Concepts
  • Protection beyond personality
  • Better Understanding of the Techniques
    • Subliminal
    • Purposefully Manipulative
    • Deception
  • AI’s influence on preferences?
  • Defining 'Informed Decisions'

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“There are known knowns. These are things we know that we know. There are known unknowns. That is to say, there are things that we know we don't know. But there are also unknown unknowns. There are things we don't know we don't know.”�� - Donald Rumsfeld