Algorithmic Harms Associated with Generative Model-Augmented Recommendation Systems

Abstract:In this work, we consider algorithmic harms that may arise as generative models are incorporated into machine learning platforms. We argue that existing harm taxonomies and threat models require extension to (1) address novel causal drivers of well-studied representational and quality-of-service harms; and (2) anticipate and mitigate endogenous harms, such as sanitization, which may arise when system inputs are misaligned with the system designer's objectives, or the generative model's inductive priors. To this end, we introduce an expanded taxonomy of algorithmic harms associated with the use of generative models in non-conversational recommendation systems. In addition, we offer a causal analysis of how problematic subsets of the (input, output) joint distribution can arise, in an effort to inform harms detection and mitigation efforts.

Machine Learning (cs.LG); Artificial Intelligence (cs.AI); Computation and Language (cs.CL); Information Retrieval (cs.IR)

arXiv:2609.33073 [cs.LG]

(or arXiv:2609.33073v1 [cs.LG] for this version)

https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2609.33073 Focus to learn more arXiv-issued DOI via DataCite (pending registration)

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