Auditing Algorithms for Bias

In 1971, philosopher John Rawls proposed a thought experiment to understand the idea of fairness: the veil of ignorance. What if, he asked, we could erase our brains so we had no memory of who we were -- our race, our income level, our profession, anything that may influence our opinion? Who would we protect, and who would we serve with our policies? The veil of ignorance is a philosophical exercise for thinking about justice and society. But it can be applied to the burgeoning field of artificial intelligence (AI) as well. Can AI provide the veil of ignorance that would lead us to objective and ideal outcomes?