Does Swarm Learning Solve Federation Opacity? The Need for Governance Beyond Decentralization.

The article focuses on the ethical and epistemic challenges posed by "federation opacity" in federated learning (FL), a machine learning approach where data remain decentralized and inaccessible for direct inspection by stakeholders. It discusses how FL’s distributed architecture complicates account...

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Publicado en:American Journal of Bioethics Vol. 26; no. 8; pp. 136 - 140
Autores principales: Bak, Marieke, Warnat-Herresthal, Stefanie, Willem, Theresa, Zimmermann, Bettina, Schulte-Schrepping, Jonas, Ribeiro, Lucas Secchim, Schultze, Joachim, McLennan, Stuart
Formato: commentary Journal Article
Publicado: Taylor & Francis Ltd Aug2026
Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
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        atl: Does Swarm Learning Solve Federation Opacity? The Need for Governance Beyond Decentralization.
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          Bak, Marieke
          Warnat-Herresthal, Stefanie
          Willem, Theresa
          Zimmermann, Bettina
          Schulte-Schrepping, Jonas
          Ribeiro, Lucas Secchim
          Schultze, Joachim
          McLennan, Stuart
        affil: Technical University of Munich
      sug:
        subj:
          Federated Learning
          Decentralization
          Machine Learning
          Data Quality
          Professional Compliance
          Electronic Health Records
          Data Security
      ab: The article focuses on the ethical and epistemic challenges posed by "federation opacity" in federated learning (FL), a machine learning approach where data remain decentralized and inaccessible for direct inspection by stakeholders. It discusses how FL’s distributed architecture complicates accountability, data quality assessment, and vulnerability to attacks, despite its appeal for privacy in healthcare. The article then examines Swarm Learning (SL), a more decentralized alternative that removes the central aggregation server by using peer-to-peer coordination and blockchain technology, potentially enhancing auditability and reducing certain risks associated with FL. However, it emphasizes that both FL and SL require robust governance frameworks—covering data quality standards, responsibility, and fairness—to address ethical concerns, as technical decentralization alone does not resolve issues of transparency or accountability in medical machine learning.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
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        commentary
        Journal Article
      ougenre: Article
    language: English
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