How do you know if an algorithm is fair?

Algorithms are becoming commonplace. They can determine employment prospects, financial security and more. The use of algorithms can be controversial – for example, robodebt, as the Australian government’s flawed online welfare compliance system came to be known.

Algorithms are increasingly being used to make decisions that have a lasting impact on our current and future lives.

Some of the greatest impacts of algorithmic decision-making are in education. If you have anything to do with an Australian school or a university, at some stage an algorithm will make a decision that matters for you.

So what sort of decisions might involve algorithms? Some decisions will involve the next question for school students to answer on a test, such as the online provision of NAPLAN. Some algorithms support human decision-making in universities, such as identifying students at risk of failing a subject. Others take the human out of the loop, like some forms of online exam supervision.

Read the full story in UTS newsroom