What do the map on your phone, your IRS audit letter, street repairs in your neighborhood, and your public benefits all have in common? These are examples of decisions and interactions that are now – at least in part – informed by algorithms. The potential consequences of these algorithmic processes differ in important ways, from getting stuck in traffic to being unable to access critical public services.
On November 30, 2018 the Digital Civil Society Lab (DCSL) hosted a conversation with Virginia Eubanks, Associate Professor at the Unviersity of Albany – SUNY and author of Automating Inequality, to explore how these automated decision making processes are changing government and changing the everyday lives of citizens. In a discussion moderated by DCSL director Lucy Bernholz, Professor Eubanks discussed the research behind her book, including interviews with people and public agencies around the country.
This event was co-presented by the San Francisco Human Rights Commission, TechSoup Global, and the Digital Civil Society Lab at Stanford PACS.