At any point in time America has over 700,000 people in jail, drawn disproportionately from low-income and minority groups. We require judges to make decisions about whether to release or jail someone awaiting trial based on a prediction of the defendant’s risk, but to help the judges with this task we give them access to the same technologies we were using in the 20th century (or even the 19th or 18th centuries for that matter). What are the upsides – and potential downsides – of taking this and other important policy decisions into the 21st century? Professor Jens Ludwig, director of the University of Chicago Crime Lab, discusses how AI and data science can be used to advise policymakers on how to reduce gun violence and lessen the negative impact of the criminal justice system.

• This program is presented as part of the annual Karla Scherer Endowed Lecture Series for the University of Chicago. This program is presented as part of the NielsenIQ Series on Artificial Intelligence. This program is part of the Social Justice and Equity Series supported by Allstate and ITW.
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