Details
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 309-325 |
| Number of pages | 17 |
| Journal | AMERICAN PHILOSOPHICAL QUARTERLY |
| Volume | 61 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Oct 2024 |
Abstract
Algorithmic risk assessment tools, such as COMPAS, are increasingly used in criminal justice systems to predict the risk of defendants to reoffend in the future. This paper argues that these tools may not only predict recidivism, but may themselves causally induce recidivism through self-fulfilling predictions. We argue that such “performative” effects can yield severe harms both to individuals and to society at large, which raise epistemic-ethical responsibilities on the part of developers and users of risk assessment tools. To meet these responsibilities, we present a novel desideratum on algorithmic tools, called explainability-in-context, which requires clarifying how these tools causally interact with the social, technological, and institutional environments they are embedded in. Risk assessment practices are thus subject to high epistemic standards, which haven’t been sufficiently appreciated to date. Explainability-in-context, we contend, is a crucial goal to pursue in addressing the ethical challenges surrounding risk assessment tools.
Keywords
- criminal justice, explainability, performativity, recidivism, risk assessment
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Arts and Humanities(all)
- Philosophy
Sustainable Development Goals
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In: AMERICAN PHILOSOPHICAL QUARTERLY, Vol. 61, No. 4, 01.10.2024, p. 309-325.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Making a murderer
T2 - How Risk Assessment Tools May Produce Rather Than Predict Criminal Behavior
AU - Khosrowi, Donal
AU - van Basshuysen, Philippe
N1 - Publisher Copyright: ©2024 by the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois.
PY - 2024/10/1
Y1 - 2024/10/1
N2 - Algorithmic risk assessment tools, such as COMPAS, are increasingly used in criminal justice systems to predict the risk of defendants to reoffend in the future. This paper argues that these tools may not only predict recidivism, but may themselves causally induce recidivism through self-fulfilling predictions. We argue that such “performative” effects can yield severe harms both to individuals and to society at large, which raise epistemic-ethical responsibilities on the part of developers and users of risk assessment tools. To meet these responsibilities, we present a novel desideratum on algorithmic tools, called explainability-in-context, which requires clarifying how these tools causally interact with the social, technological, and institutional environments they are embedded in. Risk assessment practices are thus subject to high epistemic standards, which haven’t been sufficiently appreciated to date. Explainability-in-context, we contend, is a crucial goal to pursue in addressing the ethical challenges surrounding risk assessment tools.
AB - Algorithmic risk assessment tools, such as COMPAS, are increasingly used in criminal justice systems to predict the risk of defendants to reoffend in the future. This paper argues that these tools may not only predict recidivism, but may themselves causally induce recidivism through self-fulfilling predictions. We argue that such “performative” effects can yield severe harms both to individuals and to society at large, which raise epistemic-ethical responsibilities on the part of developers and users of risk assessment tools. To meet these responsibilities, we present a novel desideratum on algorithmic tools, called explainability-in-context, which requires clarifying how these tools causally interact with the social, technological, and institutional environments they are embedded in. Risk assessment practices are thus subject to high epistemic standards, which haven’t been sufficiently appreciated to date. Explainability-in-context, we contend, is a crucial goal to pursue in addressing the ethical challenges surrounding risk assessment tools.
KW - criminal justice
KW - explainability
KW - performativity
KW - recidivism
KW - risk assessment
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85209935221&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.5406/21521123.61.4.02
DO - 10.5406/21521123.61.4.02
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85209935221
VL - 61
SP - 309
EP - 325
JO - AMERICAN PHILOSOPHICAL QUARTERLY
JF - AMERICAN PHILOSOPHICAL QUARTERLY
SN - 0003-0481
IS - 4
ER -