Dec 1, 2021
Keep Me Posted is a podcast about the intersection of race, rights, democracy and justice in the digital age.
State governments are increasingly relying on AI
tools and systems to determine whether people qualify for public
benefits and to what extent they receive them. For people with
disabilities, this can mean losing critical support without warning
or explanation. Algorithms are designed to make decisions based on
patterns, but disabilities are diverse, nuanced and sometimes not
even physically apparent.
This week's guest, lydia x.z.
brown, is a policy counsel with the Center for Democracy and
Technology’s Privacy and Data Project, focused on disability rights
and algorithmic fairness and justice. Their work is investigated
algorithmic harm and injustice in public benefits determinations,
hiring algorithms and algorithmic surveillance that
disproportionately impact disabled people — particularly multiply
marginalized, disabled people.