Algorithmic Unfairness Through the Lens of EU Non-Discrimination Law: Or Why the Law is Not a Decision Tree

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Concerns regarding unfairness and discrimination in the context of artificial intelligence (AI) systems have recently received increased attention from both legal and computer science scholars. Yet, the degree of overlap between notions of algorithmic bias and fairness on the one hand, and legal notions of discrimination and equality on the other, is often unclear, leading to misunderstandings between computer science and law. In this paper, we aim to illustrate to what extent European Union (EU) non-discrimination law coincides with notions of algorithmic fairness proposed in computer science literature and where they differ. Ultimately, we show that metaphors depicting the law as a decision tree are misguiding. We suggest moving away from asking what should be equal, and towards asking why a particular distribution of burdens and benefits is right in a given context.

Original languageEnglish
JournalCEUR Workshop Proceedings
Volume3442
Pages (from-to)805-816
Number of pages12
ISSN1613-0073
Publication statusPublished - 2023
Event2nd European Workshop on Algorithmic Fairness, EWAF 2023 - Winterthur, Switzerland
Duration: 7 Jun 20239 Jun 2023

Conference

Conference2nd European Workshop on Algorithmic Fairness, EWAF 2023
CountrySwitzerland
CityWinterthur
Period07/06/202309/06/2023

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    Research areas

  • discrimination, EU law, fairness metrics, legal compliance, technical interventions

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