Sent to Prison by a Software Programs Secret Algorithms
When Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. visited Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute last month, he was asked a startling question, one with overtones of science fiction.
Can you foresee a day, asked Shirley Ann Jackson, president of the college in upstate New York, when smart machines, driven with artificial intelligences, will assist with courtroom fact-finding or, more controversially even, judicial decision-making?
The chief justices answer was more surprising than the question. Its a day thats here, he said, and its putting a significant strain on how the judiciary goes about doing things.
He may have been thinking about the case of a Wisconsin man, Eric L. Loomis, who was sentenced to six years in prison based in part on a private companys proprietary software. Mr. Loomis says his right to due process was violated by a judges consideration of a report generated by the softwares secret algorithm, one Mr. Loomis was unable to inspect or challenge.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/01/us/politics/sent-to-prison-by-a-software-programs-secret-algorithms.html