Automated public decision making and the need for regulation

Our relationship with the state is unique. Only the state can compel us to use its services and be bound by its decisions. Today our relationship with the state is being complexified by the adoption, by public decision-makers, of automated decision making technologies which can be subject to bias and error, and which are often intransparent. We need to re-orientate our relationship with the state and public decision-makers to ensure such tools meet standards of fairness, justice and transparency. This paper suggests we need a policy on the use of automated decision making in public services. This policy must be robust and must provide sufficient regulatory oversight to ensure that sufficient safeguards are adopted to ensure that the individual is respected and protected in their dealings with public decision-makers who deploy automated decision-making tools.