What does it mean for an algorithm to be "fair"?

For example, a few weeks before my trip, the Trump administration rescinded Biden's executive order on AI safety and DOGE began turning to AI to decide which federal programs to cut. Then, more recently, House Republicans passed a 10-year moratorium on US states' ability to regulate AI (though it has yet to be passed by the Senate). What all this points to is a new reality in the United States where responsible AI is no longer a priority (if it ever genuinely was). But this has also made me think more deeply about the stakes of deploying AI in situations that directly affect human lives, and about what success would even look like. When Amsterdam's welfare department began developing the algorithm that became Smart Check, the municipality followed virtually every recommendation in the responsible-AI playbook: consulting external experts, running bias tests, implementing technical safeguards, and seeking stakeholder feedback.