Transparency documentation: three scopes
Datasheet
Gebru et al. 2018 (CACM 2021)
upstream: training data
motivation, composition, collection
Data Cards (Pushkarna 2022)
telescopic / periscopic / microscopic
Model Card
Mitchell et al. 2019
middle: the model
intended use, factors, metrics
quant disaggregation
ethical considerations (0.3% filled)
System Card
Sidhpurwala 2024 / Blueprints 2025
downstream: deployment
safety stack + incident response
end-to-end scope
covers PI, exfil, alignment
2024-2025 developments
CardGen (Liu et al. 2024): automated generation via LLMs; higher objectivity than many human-authored cards.
download correlation (Liang et al. 2024): detailed cards +29% HF downloads -- adoption is market-driven.
Laminator (Duddu et al. 2024): hardware TEE + cryptographic attestations for verifiable claims.
sustainability (Jouneaux et al. July 2025): carbon, water, energy fields; emerging ISO standards.
EU AI Act GPAI Code of Practice Transparency chapter: model cards as compliance artifacts.
adoption gap: 0.3% of HF model cards document ethical considerations (Oreamuno et al. 2023).
remediation: auto-generation + download-correlation pressure + regulatory requirement.
"Blueprints of Trust" (arXiv:2509.20394) formalizes the System Card as deployment-layer complement.