Yes, Government Should Regulate Automated Decision-Making
Somebody has to reassert human control over algorithmic people-management. Kudos to Congressional Democrats for making the effort.
In need of a dose of humanity.
Photographer: Nicolas Asfouri/AFP/Getty ImagesA backlash against big tech has sent lawmakers all over the world scrambling for ways to restrain the influence of computers over daily life. Now, Congressional Democrats are offering up an Algorithmic Accountability Act of 2019, an expansive and ambitious new take on how to regulate automated decision-making. Whether or not it becomes law, it’s a necessary effort to reassert human control as opaque algorithms take over bureaucratic processes.
Algorithms are being used everywhere: in credit decisions, mortgages, insurance rates, who gets a job, which kids get into college, and how long criminal defendants go to prison to name a few proliferating examples. Messy, complicated human decisions are being made, typically without an explanation or a chance to appeal, by artificial intelligence systems. They provide efficiency, profitability, and, often, a sense of scientific precision and authority.