Every year, Rotterdam carries out investigations on some of its 30,000 welfare recipients. Since 2017, the city has used a machine learning model to flag suspected welfare cheats. Lighthouse Reports obtained Rotterdam’s welfare fraud algorithm and the data used to train it, giving unparalleled insight into how such a system works. Rotterdam was chosen as the centrepiece of this investigation not because what it is doing is especially novel, but because it was the only one willing to share the code behind its algorithm used to predict benefits fraud.
Participants
On Thursday April 13 investigative journalist Gabriel Geiger (Lighthouse Reports) will share what they uncovered and discuss why it matters with digital anthropologist Miriyam Aouragh (Westminster University London), lawyer and researcher Marlies van Eck (Radboud University Nijmeghen) and Professor of Administrative Law Sofia Ranchordas (Tilburg University). Examining Rotterdam’s welfare fraud algorithm we look at the serious flaws and biases it contains, the human impact caused by its decisions, and what it reveals about the future of AI. The evening is moderated by science journalist Geert Maarse.
