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https://theconversation.com/algorithms-that-predict-crime-are-watching-and-judging-us-by-the-cards-weve-been-dealt-225798>
"Your money, postcode, friends and family can make all the difference to how
the criminal system treats you.
The New South Wales police recently scrapped a widely condemned program known
as the Suspect Targeting Management Plan. It used algorithmic risk scores to
single out “targets”, some as young as ten years old, for police surveillance.
But similar programs remain in place. For instance, Corrective Services NSW
uses a statistical assessment tool called LSI-R to predict whether prisoners
will reoffend.
“High risk” prisoners receive “high intensity interventions”, and may be denied
parole. The risk scores are calculated from facts such as “criminal friends”,
family involvement in crime or drugs, financial problems, living in a “high
crime neighbourhood” and frequent changes of address.
A predictive algorithm is a set of rules for computers (and sometimes people)
to follow, based on patterns in data. Lots has been written about how
algorithms discriminate against us, from biased search engines to health
databases.
In my newly published book,
Artificial Justice, I argue the use of tools that
predict our behaviour based on factors like poverty or family background should
worry us, too. If we are punished at all, it should be only for what we have
done wrong, not for the cards we have been dealt."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
