What happens when a model gets authority over real data and real decisions?
The question begins where a model stops being only an adviser. Reading a record, changing a record, and choosing an action have different consequences. A useful account of model authority should keep those differences visible.
Working distinctions
Access to data is not the same as authority to alter it. Authority to propose a decision is not the same as authority to execute one. A system can cross these boundaries gradually, which makes the point of transition easy to miss.
The first work here will describe those boundaries and identify evidence that would show whether a person retains meaningful control.
Questions to carry forward
Which actions can the model take without review? What can be reversed? Who learns that an action occurred? What evidence remains after a mistake? Who is able to stop the system?
These questions are the beginning of the inquiry. They are not yet a method for answering it.