  Algorithmic (including AI/ML) decision-making artifacts are an established
and growing part of our decision-making ecosystem. They are indispensable tools
for managing the flood of information needed to make effective decisions in a
complex world. The current literature is full of examples of how individual
artifacts violate societal norms and expectations (e.g. violations of fairness,
privacy, or safety norms). Against this backdrop, this discussion highlights an
under-emphasized perspective in the literature on assessing value misalignment
in AI-equipped sociotechnical systems. The research on value misalignment has a
strong focus on the behavior of individual tech artifacts. This discussion
argues for a more structured systems-level approach for assessing
value-alignment in sociotechnical systems. We rely primarily on the research on
fairness to make our arguments more concrete. And we use the opportunity to
highlight how adopting a system perspective improves our ability to explain and
address value misalignments better. Our discussion ends with an exploration of
priority questions that demand attention if we are to assure the value
alignment of whole systems, not just individual artifacts.
