Definition
The delegation of accountability alongside the task, in systems where nobody both controls the behaviour and can be held responsible.
What is at stake
It stood on philosophy alone for twenty-two years. It now has causal evidence under it, which changes what you can say in a governance conversation.
Where the word came from
- The responsibility gapAndreas Matthias, 2004
- Blurred accountabilityKropp's AI-agent naming experiment, 2026, the first causal evidence under it
How episcope came to it
Andreas Matthias, 2004, a philosopher of machine ethics at Lingnan University in Hong Kong.
Papers behind it
Matthias, A. (2004). The responsibility gap: Ascribing responsibility for the actions of learning automata. Ethics and Information Technology, 6(3), 175-183.
Peer reviewed
Kropp, M., Bedard, J., et al. (May 2026). Research: Why You Shouldn’t Treat AI Agents Like Employees. Harvard Business Review.
Practitioner articleBCG-authored. Effects are reported in HBR rather than in a full paper.
Read next
Blurred accountabilityResponsibility drifting to the machine because of its name.Cognitive surrenderAccepting AI output with minimal scrutiny.The cognitive new dealEvery AI use is an exchange whose terms go unread.
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