Lawmakers Ignore Black Box Algorithms While Civil Rights Erode
The detrimental effects of black box algorithms have taken their toll on unprivileged groups. Meanwhile, disconnected lawmakers have shown no concern for civil rights laws as they apply to artificial intelligence.
Artificial intelligence (AI) legislation is needed to stop the relentless trampling of civil rights. Additionally, taxpayers should not have to pay for the imminent tsunami of law suits resulting from this legislative shirking of duty.
Placing computer code in the metaphorical “black box” is common. Typically, an organization hides the code used in a computer program such as AI software. Corporations have fought to keep this code hidden.
They claim that transparency would result in intellectual property theft. However, this code opacity has resulted in violations of civil rights laws.
ProPublica exposed one such violation in the article, “Machine Bias.” The article describes an algorithm being used by law enforcement agencies throughout the United States.
It is being used to convict individuals of crimes, predict recidivism, and assign prison sentences. AI software seems like a great way to expedite these processes, right?
One problem — it does not work. It suffers from alarming rates of false…
