{"id":15,"date":"2024-10-22T13:08:39","date_gmt":"2024-10-22T12:08:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lifeofdata.org\/site\/algobias-toolkit\/?page_id=15"},"modified":"2025-10-09T12:05:08","modified_gmt":"2025-10-09T11:05:08","slug":"what-is-an-algorithmic-impact-assessment","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/lifeofdata.org\/site\/algobias-toolkit\/what-is-an-algorithmic-impact-assessment\/","title":{"rendered":"What is an Algorithmic Impact Assessment?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"\">Much like Data Impact Assessments, Algorithmic Impact Assessments &nbsp;(AIAs) have been proposed to help teams think through the potential impact of an algorithmic systems prior, during, and after it\u2019s deployment. AIAs are designed to promote responsible innovation by ensuring that ethical, legal, and social risks are identified and addressed early in the development process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">Examples of AIAs include the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.canada.ca\/en\/government\/system\/digital-government\/digital-government-innovations\/responsible-use-ai\/algorithmic-impact-assessment.html\">Canadian Open Government AIA<\/a>. The different needs of an organisation will influence what type of AIA is most suitable for them, as each organisation is likely to have different needs and priorities. An effective AIA should promote active thinking around how potential systems might affect individuals and communities, especially those who are more likely to experience harm due to systemic inequality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Why Use an Algorithmic Impact Assessment?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">The goal of an AIA is to make algorithmic systems more transparent, accountable, and aligned with public values. Similar to environmental or data protection impact assessments, AIAs encourage organisations to consider the broader implications of algorithmic technologies beyond that of technical performance. Results from the Ada Lovelace institute\u2019s (2022) NHS\u2019 National Medical Imaging Platform (NMIP) pre-pilot analysis suggest that AIAs are helpful for:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li class=\"\">Greater accountability \/ Transparency<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\">Reflection \/ Reflexivity<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\">Standardisation<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\">Independent scrutiny \/ Multi-stakeholder engagement<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\">Documentation<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\">Participation \/ meaningful opportunity to respond or dispute a system<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What Does an AIA Typically Involve?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">An AIA typically has a list of questions designed to help organisations think through the potential risks and consequences of any proposed algorithmic technology. The sort of questions which will be useful for an organisation will differ depending on their organisational priorities and those who would be impacted by the potential technology. One of the challenges here is to make an AIA not just another form or box-ticking exercise, but to make sure it promotes active reflective and reflexive thinking. Some things to think through when considering how your organisation might benefit from an AIA are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li class=\"\">Does this need to be a separate form? Is there another process this could be meaningfully incorporated into?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\">Is the organisation accountable to anyone to complete an AIA?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\">Will the AIA be shared with the public? If not, is there any other way of making this process more transparent?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\">When will the AIA be revisited? How does it allow for post-project analysis?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\">How early can the AIA process be started? When will it be revisted?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Are AIAs Required by Law?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">Unlike Data Impact Assessments, AIAs are not required by UK law. The EU AI Act introduces the need for risk assessments for high-risk AI applications, and in Canada public sector services must complete an AIA using the open government tool.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">While not currently required by law, many organisations are starting to make use of these tools to reduce the risks inherent in algorithmic and AI technologies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Further Resources<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">Ada Lovelace Institute (2022) <em>Algorithmic impact assessment: a case study in healthcare<\/em>. Ada Lovelace Institute, pp. 1\u2013119. Available at: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.opengovpartnership.org\/documents\/algorithmic-accountability-public-sector\/\">www.opengovpartnership.org\/documents\/algorithmic-accountability-public-sector\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (2021) <em>Algorithmic Impact Assessment Tool<\/em>. Available at: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.canada.ca\/en\/government\/system\/digital-government\/digital-government-innovations\/responsible-use-ai\/algorithmic-impact-assessment.html\">www.canada.ca\/en\/government\/system\/digital-government\/digital-government-innovations\/responsible-use-ai\/algorithmic-impact-assessment.html<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">Patel, R. (2025)\u00a0<em>A Framework and Self<\/em>\u00a0<em>Assessment Workbook for Including Public Voices in AI<\/em>. Elgon Social Research and ESRC Digital Good Network. Available at: <a href=\"https:\/\/elgon.social\/framework-and-workbook\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">elgon.social\/framework-and-workbook<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">[Hadley Beresford, 2025, forethcoming]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Much like Data Impact Assessments, Algorithmic Impact Assessments &nbsp;(AIAs) have been proposed to help teams think through the potential impact of an algorithmic systems prior, during, and after it\u2019s deployment. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"nf_dc_page":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-15","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>What is an Algorithmic Impact Assessment? - AlgoBias ToolKit<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/lifeofdata.org\/site\/algobias-toolkit\/what-is-an-algorithmic-impact-assessment\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What is an Algorithmic Impact Assessment? - AlgoBias ToolKit\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Much like Data Impact Assessments, Algorithmic Impact Assessments &nbsp;(AIAs) have been proposed to help teams think through the potential impact of an algorithmic systems prior, during, and after it\u2019s deployment. 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