Societal impacts

The requirement, in our words

Evaluate and record the possible effects of the organization's AI systems on society over their life cycle, including environmental sustainability, economic effects, democratic processes, health and safety, norms and culture, and misuse.

What it means for human oversight

Some harms are visible only at population level: a feedback loop, a shift in access, a misuse pattern. The overseer should know the societal risk the system contributes to, even when no single decision shows it.

How to evidence it

Attach the artefacts above to the Societal impacts row with the system name, the owner and the date. The first one is the anchor: A societal impact assessment. The OH-23 file is complete when the named person can produce that artefact and explain the decision it records, without asking someone else where it is.

The reviewer will sample one live decision and ask for Analysis of misuse and reinforcement of historical bias. If that artefact for OH-23 cannot be produced, the row is a gap, whatever the policy says.

OH-23 carries 3 evidence items and 2 common gaps. For societal impacts, link the row to the assessment page that names the harm, because an overseer cannot watch for a consequence the file never describes. The OH-23 statement above is ours, written from ISO/IEC 42001:2023, A.5.5, not a reproduction of the licensed text.

Common gaps

• Environmental footprint omitted
• Misuse scenarios such as misinformation not analysed

Related units

• Impact assessment at planning
• Impact assessment in operation
• Context and the role you play