PATTERNED INEQUALITY, COMPOUNDING INJUSTICE, AND ALGORITHMIC PREDICTION

If whatever counts as merit for some purpose is unevenly distributed, a decision procedure that accurately sorts people on basis will “pick up” and reproduce the pre-existing pattern in ways more random, less merit-tracking procedures would not. This dynamic an important cause concern about use of predictive models to allocate goods opportunities. In this article, I distinguish two different objections give voice ways. First, may contribute future social injustice other ills by sustaining or aggravating patterns undermine equality status opportunity. Second, same wrong particular individuals compounding prior injustices explain those persons’ predicted actual characteristics. argue importance first idea raise doubts second. normative assessments legal regulation algorithmic decisionmaking, our thinking anti-discrimination norms broadly, central ought be prospect entrenching harmful unjust patterns—quite apart from any personal done whom predictions are made.