An algorithm for removing sensitive information: application to race-independent recidivism prediction

Understand

Predictive modeling is increasingly being employed to assist human decision-makers.

• One purported advantage of replacing or augmenting human judgment with computer models in high stakes settings-- such as sentencing, hiring, policing, college admissions, and parole decisions-- is the perceived "neutrality" of computers.
• It is argued that because computer models do not hold personal prejudice, the predictions they produce will be equally free from prejudice.
• There is growing recognition that employing algorithms does not remove the potential for bias, and can even amplify it if the training data were generated by a process that is itself biased.