The Usefulness--and Possible Dangers--of Machine Learning The Regulatory Review

University of Pennsylvania workshop addresses potential biases in the predictive technique. Stephen Hawking once warned that advances in artificial intelligence might eventually "spell the end of the human race." And yet decision-makers from financial corporations to government agencies have begun to embrace machine learning's enhanced power to predict--a power that commentators say "will transform how we live, work, and think." During the first of a series of seven Optimizing Government workshops held at the University of Pennsylvania Law School last year, Aaron Roth, Associate Professor of Computer and Information Science at the University of Pennsylvania, demystified machine learning, breaking down its functionality, its possibilities and limitations, and its potential for unfair outcomes. Chairman of the Penn Department of Criminology Richard Berk offers commentary. Machine learning, in short, enables users to predict outcomes using past data sets, Roth said.