Neighborhood-level screening algorithms are increasingly being deployed to inform policy decisions. We evaluate one such algorithm, CalEnviroScreen - designed to promote environmental justice and used to guide hundreds of millions of dollars in public funding annually - assessing its potential for allocative harm. We observe high sensitivity to subjective model decisions and susceptibility to manipulation, resulting in allocative tradeoffs with ethical concerns. We find the algorithm to be financially consequential, estimating the effect of its positive designations as a 104% (62-145%) increase in funding, equivalent to \$2.08 billion (\$1.56-2.41 billion) over four years. We recommend incorporating sensitivity analyses to mitigate allocative harm and accountability mechanisms to prevent misuse.
翻译:社区层面的筛选算法越来越多地用于政策决策。我们评估了一个这样的算法,CalEnviroScreen - 旨在促进环境正义,每年用于引导数亿美元的公共资金 - 评估其分配风险的潜力。我们观察到对主观模型决策的高度敏感性和易受操纵性,导致道德关切的分配权衡。我们发现该算法在财务上具有重大影响,估计其正面指定的影响相当于四年内1.56-2.41十亿美元(104%(62-145%)增长)。我们建议加入敏感性分析以减少分配风险,并加入问责机制以防止滥用。