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Minority Report Vs Machine Bias

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The articles “Machine Bias” by Julia Angwin, et al. and “Should Prison Sentences Be Based on Crimes That Haven’t Been Committed Yet?” by Anna Maria Barry-Jester, et al. and the short story “The Minority Report” by Philip K. Dick share a common theme. Except that “The Minority Report” is a work of fiction, whereas “Machine Bias” and “Should Prison Sentences Be Based on Crimes That Haven’t Been Committed Yet?” are based on real life events. In other words the characters effected by Precrime are imaginary however the people who are mentioned in the articles are real, with real world consequences given to them by a potentially bias computer algorithm.
Both articles: “Machine Bias” and “Should Prison Sentences Be Based on Crimes That Haven’t Been …show more content…

And it’s biased against blacks.” (Angwin et al.) This statement tells the reader what to expect from the article. In simpler terms it explains the concept of Precrime from “The Minority Report.” Precrime is a group of three people that predict the future. The future they predict is used as evidence to place individuals that have the potential to commit a crime into a detention camp. Credibility of the system is questioned by the main character, John Anderton. John holds a position of power, as a key component of Precrime, and believes he is being wrongly accused. Similarly to the warnings about the risk assessment statements from the past U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder. According to Holder, “the risk [assessments] might be injecting bias into the courts”. (Angwin, et al.) What John, and Holder really means is the system of predicting future crimes, and who might commit them has many flaws, from accusing the wrong people, to basing predictions off biases. In conclusion, “Machine Bias” by Julia Angwin, et al. and “Should Prison Sentences Be Based on Crimes That Haven’t Been Committed Yet?” by Anna Maria Barry-Jester, et al. and the short story “The Minority Report” by Philip K. Dick all discuss the merits of using technology to predict future crimes. Lastly, I leave you with this “just because a trait predicts crime doesn’t mean it’s fair to use in [. . .]” deciding the future of someone’s life. (Barry-Jester et al.) And let you ponder that the next time it is suggested we base sentencing choices off risk

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