{"ID":2832214,"CreatedAt":"2026-06-01T04:54:23.091178241Z","UpdatedAt":"2026-06-01T04:54:23.091178241Z","DeletedAt":null,"paper_url":"https://arxiv.org/abs/2512.06354","arxiv_id":"2512.06354","title":"The Missing Variable: Socio-Technical Alignment in Risk Evaluation","abstract":"This paper addresses a critical gap in the risk assessment of AI-enabled safety-critical systems. While these systems, where AI systems assists human operators, function as complex socio-technical systems, existing risk evaluation methods fail to account for the associated complex interaction between human, technical, and organizational elements. Through a comparative analysis of system attributes from both socio-technical and AI-enabled systems and a review of current risk evaluation methods, we confirm the absence of socio-technical considerations in standard risk expressions. To bridge this gap, we introduce a novel socio-technical alignment $STA$ variable designed to be integrated into the foundational risk equation. This variable estimates the degree of harmonious interaction between the AI systems, human operators, and organizational processes. A case study on an AI-enabled liquid hydrogen bunkering system demonstrates the variable's relevance. By comparing a naive and a safeguarded system design, we illustrate how the $STA$-augmented expression captures socio-technical safety implications that traditional risk evaluation overlooks, providing a more holistic basis for risk evaluation.","short_abstract":"This paper addresses a critical gap in the risk assessment of AI-enabled safety-critical systems. While these systems, where AI systems assists human operators, function as complex socio-technical systems, existing risk evaluation methods fail to account for the associated complex interaction between human, technical,...","url_abs":"https://arxiv.org/abs/2512.06354","url_pdf":"https://arxiv.org/pdf/2512.06354v1","authors":"[\"Niclas Flehmig\",\"Mary Ann Lundteigen\",\"Shen Yin\"]","published":"2025-12-06T08:59:14Z","proceeding":"cs.CY","tasks":"[\"cs.CY\",\"cs.HC\",\"eess.SY\"]","methods":"[\"Generative Adversarial Network\"]","has_code":false}