ALGORITHMS ARE BEING WIELDED AS TOOLS OF OPPRESSION.
At Encode Justice, we’re fighting back.
WHAT WE DO
Encode Justice is mobilizing communities for fairer, more ethical AI.
Pretrial risk assessment simulation via detainrelease.com.
Algorithms have left no part of our world untouched, revolutionizing cancer diagnosis in one context and assisting pretrial release decisions for criminal defendants in another. However, the bias that plagues human decision-making can reach even the seemingly impenetrable, objective mathematical formulae that define artificial intelligence.
For example, algorithms used in the U.S. criminal justice system are trained on historical datasets that reflect the disproportionate policing and incarceration of communities of color. They’re taught to make independent decisions by analyzing countless instances of real-world data in search of patterns that explain certain results.
This process forces them to unconsciously digest the bias that has historically victimized marginalized groups. As some have put it, the devil is in the data, and those harms appear largely inextricable from artificial intelligence as we know it.
That’s where Encode Justice comes in.
WE’RE A COALITION OF YOUTH ACTIVISTS AND CHANGEMAKERS FIGHTING FOR HUMAN RIGHTS, ACCOUNTABILITY, AND JUSTICE UNDER AI. HARNESSING A GLOBAL NETWORK OF VOLUNTEERS FROM ALL OVER THE UNITED STATES AND WORLD, WE CHAMPION INFORMED AI POLICY AND ENCOURAGE YOUTH TO CONFRONT THE CHALLENGES OF THE AGE OF AUTOMATION THROUGH POLITICAL ADVOCACY, COMMUNITY ORGANIZING, EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMMING, AND CONTENT CREATION.
PROJECTS
The Say No to SB 10 Campaign
California Senate Bill 10 (now on the ballot for state voters in the form of Proposition 25) would replace the evil of cash bail with the greater evil of pretrial risk assessment tools coupled with reduced judicial accountability. It would expand a system of automated racial profiling that only fuels pretrial incarceration while empowering judges and probation with funding and discretion. Pretrial risk assessment tools have not yet been supported with enough scientific research to justify their deployment, and as a member organization of the Committee Against Pretrial Racism and the JusticeLA Coalition, Encode Justice recognizes that a Yes vote on Proposition 25 will only further erode the California criminal legal system.
As part of this campaign, we’ve been collaborating with other community-based organizations, phone banking, text banking, email banking, organizing social media advocacy, creating informational content like articles and videos. Click here to learn more.
The Stand Up to Surveillance Campaign
Information coming soon.
REACH OUT TO US
© 2020 Encode Justice. Cover image credit: Orlagh Murphy/Getty Images. All rights reserved.