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Reposted by Gabriel Geiger

Deb Raji @rajiinio.bsky.social · Jun 12

Said this in the other place and perhaps worth repeating here: this is just such a careful and almost brutally honest analysis of the ways that our efforts to "fix" things at the technical artifact level can fundamentally fall short of making meaningful system wide impact. Lots to learn here.

Deb Raji @rajiinio.bsky.social · Jun 11

For almost a decade, there's been a lot of (justified) hand-wringing and paper-writing about fairness issues in AI. This case gets to the heart of a very important question - how much of that work has materially improved the lives of real people?

Grateful for this careful & honest investigation.

Eileen Guo @eileenguo.bsky.social · Jun 11

New from me @gabrielgeiger.bsky.social + Justin-Casimir Braun:

Amsterdam believed that it could build a #predictiveAI for welfare fraud that would ALSO be fair, unbiased, & a positive case study for #ResponsibleAI. It didn't work.

Our deep dive why: www.technologyreview.com/2025/06/11/1...

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Gabriel Geiger @gabrielgeiger.bsky.social · Jun 12

Thanks Deb! Your work has been an inspiration!

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Gabriel Geiger @gabrielgeiger.bsky.social · Jun 11

It was a huge pleasure working with @eileenguo.bsky.social‬ @jeroenvanraalte.bsky.social‬ ‪@jusbraun.bsky.social‬ ‪@asilverman.bsky.social‬ @evaconstantaras.bsky.social

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Gabriel Geiger @gabrielgeiger.bsky.social · Jun 11

And in Dutch with partner @trouw.nl‬ www.trouw.nl/verdieping/a...

Amsterdam wilde met AI de bijstand eerlijker en efficiënter maken. Het liep anders

Al vaker ging de overheid de mist in met algoritmes bedoeld om uitkeringsfraude te bestrijden. De gemeente Amsterdam wilde het allemaal anders doen, maar kwam erachter: een ethisch algoritme is een il...

www.trouw.nl

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Gabriel Geiger @gabrielgeiger.bsky.social · Jun 11

Read what happened in English with partner @technologyreview.com www.technologyreview.com/2025/06/11/1...

Inside Amsterdam’s high-stakes experiment to create fair welfare AI

The Dutch city thought it could break a decade-long trend of implementing discriminatory algorithms. Its failure raises the question: can these programs ever be fair?

www.technologyreview.com

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Gabriel Geiger @gabrielgeiger.bsky.social · Jun 11

Amsterdam followed all of these Responsible AI principles, invested hundreds of thousands of euros, consulted experts and stakeholders, ran bias audits -- and yet their system still failed. We set out to understand why.

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Gabriel Geiger @gabrielgeiger.bsky.social · Jun 11

Responsible AI is also becoming a lucrative industry. The Big 5 consultancies are now offering (and monetising) Ethical AI audits, alongside a cottage industry of start-ups. Responsible AI has produced a slew of frameworks and checklists, many of which have never been meaningfully tested.

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Gabriel Geiger @gabrielgeiger.bsky.social · Jun 11

This story unfolded alongside a growing trend: “Responsible AI”, a constellation of think tanks, academics, non-profits, and multinational institutions purporting to make algorithmic systems fair, accountable and transparent.

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Gabriel Geiger @gabrielgeiger.bsky.social · Jun 11

We also interviewed officials, data scientists, politicians, experts, lawyers — and the welfare recipients who would be scored by the system.

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Gabriel Geiger @gabrielgeiger.bsky.social · Jun 11

So over the past two years, we’ve been patiently looking over Amsterdam’s shoulder. @lighthousereports.com and our partners at @technologyreview.com and @trouwgained unprecedented technical access to the city’s system.

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Gabriel Geiger @gabrielgeiger.bsky.social · Jun 11

A lot of coverage in this space already has the answer before it begins. @jusbraun.bsky.social is definitely not someone who thinks that way, and after pestering me constantly with late night phone calls, convinced me that pursuing this story was worthwhile

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Gabriel Geiger @gabrielgeiger.bsky.social · Jun 11

When I first heard about the city of Amsterdam's attempt to build an ethical welfare fraud detection model, I didn’t want to pursue the story. At the time, my justification was that my energy was better spent investigating more problematic deployments where the harms are clearest.

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Gabriel Geiger @gabrielgeiger.bsky.social · Jun 11

I’ve spent a lot of time investigating shitty AI cynically used to pursue vulnerable people in welfare systems. When I talk about this work, I invariably get asked: is it possible to make these systems fair?

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Reposted by Gabriel Geiger

Eileen Guo @eileenguo.bsky.social · Jun 11

New from me @gabrielgeiger.bsky.social + Justin-Casimir Braun:

Amsterdam believed that it could build a #predictiveAI for welfare fraud that would ALSO be fair, unbiased, & a positive case study for #ResponsibleAI. It didn't work.

Our deep dive why: www.technologyreview.com/2025/06/11/1...

Inside Amsterdam’s high-stakes experiment to create fair welfare AI

The Dutch city thought it could break a decade-long trend of implementing discriminatory algorithms. Its failure raises the question: can these programs ever be fair?

www.technologyreview.com

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Gabriel Geiger @gabrielgeiger.bsky.social · May 12

Delighted to see this project shortlisted for the Sigma awards alongside a host of other incredible data journalism projects from around the world.

Christian Nicolai Bjørke @cbjoerke.bsky.social · May 9

So happy that our project «Inequality for the law» is on the shortlist. 🏆 Lucky to have been collaborating with the talented people at @lighthousereports.com. @elenadebre.bsky.social @gabrielgeiger.bsky.social @jusbraun.bsky.social

Global Investigative Journalism Network @gijn.org · May 9

💫 NEW! GIJN, the new home of the Sigma Awards, is proud to announce the 2025 shortlist for the best data journalism projects and portfolios in the past year.

👏 50 data journalism projects from 24 countries made it to the final round of the competition. https://twp.ai/9PSjQG

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Reposted by Gabriel Geiger

Christian Nicolai Bjørke @cbjoerke.bsky.social · May 9

So happy that our project «Inequality for the law» is on the shortlist. 🏆 Lucky to have been collaborating with the talented people at @lighthousereports.com. @elenadebre.bsky.social @gabrielgeiger.bsky.social @jusbraun.bsky.social

Global Investigative Journalism Network @gijn.org · May 9

💫 NEW! GIJN, the new home of the Sigma Awards, is proud to announce the 2025 shortlist for the best data journalism projects and portfolios in the past year.

👏 50 data journalism projects from 24 countries made it to the final round of the competition. https://twp.ai/9PSjQG

gijn.org

Announcing the Sigma Awards 2025 Shortlist

twp.ai

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Reposted by Gabriel Geiger

Pulitzer Center @pulitzercenter.org · Mar 5

The Pulitzer Center and #iMEdD are partnering in a two day AI Spotlight Series in-person training on reporting on AI!

We are looking for Southeastern Europe journalists to join coaches @karenhao.bsky.social and @gabrielgeiger.bsky.social in #Greece.

Apply now!
👉 bit.ly/AISptSG25

AI Spotlight Series - AI Spotlight Training For Southeastern European Journalists - May 1-2, 2025 Thessaloniki, Greece - Instructors: Karen Hao and Gabriel Geiger - Journalists from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, and Turkey are eligible to apply to this in-person training in Greece.

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Reposted by Gabriel Geiger

Lighthouse Reports @lighthousereports.com · Mar 7

On this episode of #Backlight, award-winning reporters @karenhao.bsky.social and @gabrielgeiger.bsky.social explain how to report on #AI.

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Reposted by Gabriel Geiger

Pulitzer Center @pulitzercenter.org · Feb 24

The Pulitzer Center, in partnership with #iMEdD, is seeking applications from journalists based in Southeastern Europe to attend a two-day, in-person training program on AI reporting led coaches @karenhao.bsky.social and @gabrielgeiger.bsky.social.

Apply now! 👉 bit.ly/AISpotGT2

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Gabriel Geiger @gabrielgeiger.bsky.social · Feb 17

If you’re a reporter looking to take on AI accountability investigations, consider giving this a listen!

Lighthouse Reports @lighthousereports.com · Feb 17

New episode of #Backlight is out! This month, we are talking about how journalists can incorporate AI reporting into their beat and hold companies and governments to account.

Don’t leave AI reporting to the experts

You don’t have to be a tech reporter to cover AI

www.lighthousereports.com

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Gabriel Geiger @gabrielgeiger.bsky.social · Feb 4

Few people in the algorithmic accountability space come with as unique of a perspective and portfolio as Soizic!

Soizic Pénicaud @soizicpenicaud.bsky.social · Feb 4

Hello Bluesky! A few words about me and my work.  

I am a qualitative researcher and policy specialist at the intersection of tech/AI and human rights. I have two main areas of focus. ⤵️ (1/8)

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Gabriel Geiger @gabrielgeiger.bsky.social · Feb 3

That doesn’t stop the agency from blasting its fraud estimates out to the public this week. Nor does it stop the Swedish media regurgitating it, albeit now with a little asterisk section at the bottom citing our reporting :)

Gabriel Geiger @gabrielgeiger.bsky.social · Feb 3

What we do know is that convictions for welfare fraud are rare. In 2022, the agency referred 1686 cases to the public prosecutor for suspected welfare fraud. The result? 166 convictions. ofc there may be other reasons for this. But point is nobody knows the scale of welfare fraud

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Gabriel Geiger @gabrielgeiger.bsky.social · Feb 3

Fair enough, but why has the agency chosen this definition? In an email, the agency refused to justify why it chose this definition of fraud, writing that the release of this information would “make it easier for those who want to commit fraud.” xD

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Gabriel Geiger @gabrielgeiger.bsky.social · Feb 3

Of course both of these are based on nothing. As an expert in SvD pointed out: “They have decided that anyone who has at least two ‘incorrect’ days in their applications is cheating. Another definition is that anyone who makes a mistake when it's sunny outside is cheating.”

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