Moving from Vulnerable Users –> to Vulnerable States as an AI Research Frame

The initial draft floating the idea of System-Induced Vulnerability in Human Users of AI described a problem with treating “vulnerable users” as a broad category: it can place too much explanatory weight (and blame) on the person and too little on the interaction and system design. The post also proposed that “all users may be potentially vulnerable, but not equally vulnerable to every harm.” That variation suggests a more specific unit of analysis: the vulnerable state, understood in relation to a particular interaction and harmful outcome. Provisional definition of a vulnerable state: A user experiences a vulnerable state relative to a particular harmful outcome when their circumstances and AI interaction create or amplify an actionable route to that outcome that the user or an AI agent working on their behalf could take. This definition directs attention to the situation and to what the AI contributes. It gives us three questions: What harmful outcome is at issue? What could the…