Concepts
Concepts for designing who decides.
Six distinctions for investigating decision rights, practical influence, knowledge, and human–AI collaboration.
Updated: 19 September 2026
Formal authority
Formal authority is the right to decide. It specifies who may determine a decision even when another person or system recommends otherwise. This right does not guarantee effective control over the outcome.
Read concept02Real authority
Real authority is effective control over decisions. The distribution of information may allow an actor to shape the outcome decisively without holding the formal decision right.
Read concept03Epistemic authority
Epistemic authority concerns reasons to trust another person’s judgment about what to believe. It helps distinguish deference to knowledge from obedience to a hierarchical position.
Read concept04Organizational design
Organizational design involves dividing work and integrating effort. Tasks, information, incentives, and authority must work together so individual contributions can support collective action.
Read concept05Authority over organizational design
Beyond deciding within a rule, someone must be able to change the rule. Our agenda examines who may redistribute decision rights, change approval limits, and redesign collaboration between people and AI.
Read concept06Human–AI collaboration
The contribution of a human–AI team depends on the task and how capabilities are combined. Collaboration does not guarantee outperforming the best individual contributor. How disagreement and binding decisions are organized also matters.
Read concept