Risk algorithm used widely in US courts is harsher than human judges

by Pelican Press
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Risk algorithm used widely in US courts is harsher than human judges

New Scientist. Science news and long reads from expert journalists, covering developments in science, technology, health and the environment on the website and the magazine.

Judges can use algorithms to help make their decisions

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A US courtroom experiment suggests a popular risk assessment algorithm makes harsher recommendations than human judges – possibly because it is worse than people at anticipating which defendants will violate pretrial agreements.

“Some jurisdictions wanted to work with us to evaluate whether these recommendations are actually helping judges make a better decision,” says Kosuke Imai at Harvard University.

In the US criminal justice system, judges determine whether defendants will await trial at home or in…



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