Fair for Whom?

Ten years ago, ProPublica published "Machine Bias," an investigation into a risk-score algorithm used in courtrooms across the country to predict which defendants would commit future crimes. Judges used those scores to inform bail and sentencing. The investigation found the algorithm was nearly twice as likely to falsely flag Black defendants as future criminals, while white defendants who went on to reoffend were more often labeled low risk.

Ten years later, the same question is back, with higher stakes: is AI making society more equitable, or less? Some people have opted out of using AI entirely, while others use it daily without asking. Join us for an evening on what algorithms got wrong then, whether AI is repeating those patterns now, and what either answer should change about how we use it. We'll read short excerpts from both sides of the debate and discuss.

No pre-reading required. Time built into the event for us to read together before discussing.