English

Embracing Ambiguity: Bayesian Nonparametrics and Stakeholder Participation for Ambiguity-Aware Safety Evaluation

Artificial Intelligence 2026-01-23 v2 Applications

Abstract

Evaluations of generative AI models often collapse nuanced behaviour into a single number computed for a single decoding configuration. Such point estimates obscure tail risks, demographic disparities, and the existence of multiple near-optimal operating points. We propose a unified framework that embraces multiplicity by modelling the distribution of harmful behaviour across the entire space of decoding knobs and prompts, quantifying risk through tail-focused metrics, and integrating stakeholder preferences. Our technical contributions are threefold: (i) we formalise decoding Rashomon sets, regions of knob space whose risk is near-optimal under given criteria and measure their size and disagreement; (ii) we develop a dependent Dirichlet process (DDP) mixture with stakeholder-conditioned stick-breaking weights to learn multi-modal harm surfaces; and (iii) we introduce an active sampling pipeline that uses Bayesian deep learning surrogates to explore knob space efficiently. Our approach bridges multiplicity theory, Bayesian nonparametrics, and stakeholder-aligned sensitivity analysis, paving the way for trustworthy deployment of generative models.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2504.15211,
  title  = {Embracing Ambiguity: Bayesian Nonparametrics and Stakeholder Participation for Ambiguity-Aware Safety Evaluation},
  author = {Yanan Long},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2504.15211},
  year   = {2026}
}

Comments

AAAI 2026 workshop MURE