this post was submitted on 10 Apr 2025
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An Algorithm Deemed This Nearly Blind 70-Year-Old Prisoner a “Moderate Risk.” Now He’s No Longer Eligible for Parole. (www.propublica.org)
submitted 5 days ago by Tea@programming.dev to c/technology@lemmy.world
17 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 
  • Limiting Parole: A new law pushed by Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry cedes much of the power of the parole board to an algorithm that prevents thousands of prisoners from early release.
  • Immutable Risk Score: The risk assessment tool, TIGER, does not take into account efforts prisoners make to rehabilitate themselves. Instead, it focuses on factors that cannot be changed.
  • Racial Bias: Civil rights attorneys say the new law could disproportionately harm Black people in part because the algorithm measures factors where racial disparities already exist.
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[–] aleq@lemmy.world 26 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) (2 children)

Automating this system with some kind of algorithm is not right, but a nearly blind 70-year-old can still do damage? The angle here is weird.

[–] entwine413@lemm.ee 1 points 4 days ago

I know for a fact they've released "harmless old men," who basically instantly go out and kill someone.

[–] technocrit@lemmy.dbzer0.com -1 points 4 days ago (2 children)

The angle makes complete sense if you understand it: A reason that "AI" automation is bad is because it labels blind 70-year-olds as dangerous.

[–] entwine413@lemm.ee 6 points 4 days ago

Blind 70 year olds can still be dangerous. Being blind and old doesn't prevent that.

They're not saying that offloading the responsibility to an algorithm is good, they're saying it's weird to assume a person is harmless based on nothing but two attributes.

[–] thebestaquaman@lemmy.world 3 points 4 days ago

I agree on a general basis that it's bad that these kind of decisions are offloaded to an AI. A human should be the one to consider whether the blind 70 year old is dangerous, because they definitely can be.

Operating a vehicle or weapon requires neither eyesight nor a clear mind if you don't intend to do it safely.