Opinion by Bina Venkataraman | Technology of the future shouldn’t trap people in the past
But would you think it fair to be denied life insurance based on your Zip code, online shopping behavior or social media posts? Or to pay a higher rate on a student loan because you majored in history rather than science? What if you were passed over for a job interview or an apartment because of where you grew up? How would you feel about an insurance company using the data from your Fitbit or Apple Watch to figure out how much you should pay for your health-care...
Political leaders in the United States have largely ignored such questions of fairness that arise from insurers, lenders, employers, hospitals and landlords using predictive algorithms to make decisions that profoundly affect people’s lives.
The promise of predictive algorithms is that they make better decisions than humans — freed from our whims and biases. Yet today’s decision-making algorithms too often use the past to predict — and thus create — people’s destinies. They assume we will follow in the footsteps of others who looked like us and have grown up where we grew up, or who studied where we studied — that we will do the same work and earn the same salaries.
I want to investigate what it will take to solve big problems so that that future feels different from today — and also distinct from the past. I’ll examine trends and solutions that demonstrate the art of the possible, and offer a clear-eyed look at barriers to progress. I will aim to examine my subjects with healthy skepticism, but never too much cynicism.
From time to time, I’ll invite readers to say what they imagine for the future, and where they see signs of progress.
France Dernières Nouvelles, France Actualités
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