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  • WORLD VIEW

To make AI fair, here’s what we must learn to do

Developers of artificial intelligence must learn to collaborate with social scientists and the people affected by its applications.
By
  1. Mona Sloane

    1. Mona Sloane is a sociologist at New York University in New York City.

Beginning in 2013, the Dutch government used an algorithm to wreak havoc in the lives of 25,000 parents. The software was meant to predict which people were most likely to commit childcare-benefit fraud, but the government did not wait for proof before penalizing families and demanding that they pay back years of allowances. Families were flagged on the basis of ‘risk factors’ such as having a low income or dual nationality. As a result, tens of thousands were needlessly impoverished, and more than 1,000 children were placed in foster care.

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Nature 605, 9 (2022)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-022-01202-3

Competing Interests

M.S. is on the advisory board of the Carnegie Council Artificial Intelligence & Equality Initiative and the faculty of Fellowships at Auschwitz for the Study of Professional Ethics.

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