Author(s)

Yufei Xuan

Corresponding Author

Yufei Xuan

Abstract

With the deep integration and application of the new generation of information technologies, smart governance is profoundly reshaping government governance models and service forms, becoming a key path to modernising the national governance system and governance capacity. However, while technology empowers, it also generates complex ethical challenges and difficulties in responsibility identification, posing a severe test to traditional administrative accountability mechanisms. This study focuses on ethical risks and governance issues caused by algorithmic decisions in smart governance, systematically analysing core dilemmas such as decision opacity caused by “technical black boxes,” power distortion hidden in the “digital Leviathan,” and responsibility chain breaks triggered by technological rationality. Based on this, the study further reveals the theoretical limitations and practical failures of traditional administrative accountability systems when facing algorithmic decisions, including generalisation of accountable subjects, vagueness of responsibility attribution, and lack of technical standards, and proposes promoting a paradigm shift in administrative accountability centred on “algorithm responsibility.” Ultimately, this study aims to construct a new administrative accountability system guided by algorithm responsibility, clarifying multi-subject “human-machine collaborative” accountability, embedding a full-cycle algorithmic ethical review mechanism, and improving multi-dimensional accountability standards based on algorithm interpretability, providing theoretical support and institutional guarantees for controllable, trustworthy, and accountable smart governance.

Keywords

Smart governance; ethical risk; algorithm responsibility; administrative accountability; technical black box