Society assumes computers are unbiased, based on algorithms and machine learning. Algorithms are rules for how computers process data, and they dictate what social media users see daily. They’re used to decide which posts appear on Facebook feeds, which news stories a user is most likely to click on, and which advertisements users see.
But algorithms can also be used to determine credit worthiness or someone’s prison sentence. In these situations, computer algorithms are no longer biased. That’s the subject of “Coded Bias,” a new Netflix documentary.