The world has become too complex to entrust management only to flesh-and-blood human governance, which such complexification disarms. Facing this multiplication of threatening complexities, we are accepting more and more to be helped by ubiquitous algorithmic assistances. Often these algorithms treat their user through dedicated focus, in a privileged way, as if they were the only ones in the world. While we might accept such algorithmic orientation and very focused targeting for some specific domains of our life, decisions that impact our public goods are of a complete different nature.

In this session, and through a series of examples, we will illustrate several sectors of our life that are these days under algorithmic supervision (tax deduction and collection, access to public schools …) and discuss who should be in charge of the writing of these algorithms once they are dedicated to the public goods and by principle should escape the private sector.

About the speaker:

Hugues Bersini is born the 19/1/61 and is living in Brussels. He has an MS degree (1983) and a Ph.D in engineering (1989) both from Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB). After having been supported as a researcher by a EEC grant from the JRC-CEE in Ispra (1984-1987), he became member of the IRIDIA laboratory (the AI laboratory of ULB). He is now heading this same lab with Marco Dorigo.