[SGCEE] When computers say no: the law of discrimination in the algorithmic society

CEE's General Seminar

Sciences Po, 27 rue Saint-Guillaume, 75007 Paris 

Séminaire en réécoute

 

‘Two round holes’ and ‘a square peg’ – this is how commentators have described the apparent mismatch between current problems driven by new technologies and the traditional categories of the law. The rise of artificial intelligence in all areas of society indeed poses fundamental challenges to current regulatory regimes and discrimination law is no exception. Over the past years, problems of algorithmic bias and data-driven inequality have attracted the attention of law- and policy-makers in Europe and beyond. Examples are numerous and include discrimination in algorithmic systems used for hiring and advancement at work, the calculation of wages, predictive policing, face recognition, the allocation of social benefits and health-related resources, targeted advertising, credit scoring and the pricing of goods and services. Because they mirror and even magnify discriminatory patterns engrained in social life, predictive analytics and algorithmic profiling technologies are liable to reproduce, amplify and worsen inequalities. Yet, these socio-technical systems also mediate discrimination and inequality in ways that question the very legal techniques used to tackle discrimination. This talk asks how to rethink the law of discrimination in the algorithmic society.

Speaker

Raphaële Xenidis is an Assistant Professor in European Law at Sciences Po Law School. Raphaële's research interests include non-discrimination law, issues of algorithmic bias and data-driven inequality, intersectionality theory, critical legal approaches to equality, and questions of legal mobilisation. Previously, Raphaële was a lecturer in EU law at the University of Edinburgh, School of Law, and a Marie Curie Fellow at iCourts, University of Copenhagen, where she conducted a research project entitled PROFILE – Safeguarding Equality in the European Algorithmic Society: Tackling Discrimination in Algorithmic Profiling through EU Equality Law. Raphaële obtained her Ph.D. in law at the European University Institute where she wrote her dissertation on the question of intersectional and multiple discrimination in EU and ECHR law.

Chair 

Philippe Bezes, Sciences Po, CEE, CNRS

Discussant

Bruno Cousin, Sciences Po, CEE