Stories

A black-and-white image depicting the early computer, Bombe Machine, during World War II. In the foreground, the shadow of a woman in vintage clothing is cast on a man changing the machine's cable.

Scams and Shadow Workers: A Black Market is Selling European Accounts for AI Training

AI data annotation companies are losing control of their supply chain. Criminal networks are taking over the work account management.

Podcast False Positives Mockup with Mobile

«False Positives»: A Podcast on Financial Discrimination & De-banking

AlgorithmWatch and Agence France-Presse (AFP) released a podcast on automated discrimination in the financial sector, based in a six-month long investigation conducted in the framework of our Algorithmic Accountability Reporting fellowship.

For trans people, online transitioning can be a nightmare

Just a formality? Updating one’s online identity can be like running the gauntlet and a flawed data architecture only makes it worse for the transgender community.

Experiment

Some image generators produce more problematic stereotypes than others, but all fail at diversity

Automated image generators are often accused of spreading harmful stereotypes, but studies usually only look at MidJourney. Other tools make serious efforts to increase diversity in their output, but effective remedies remain elusive.

AI surveillance rumors: gay adult content creators face sanctions

Early last month, many gay fetish accounts were charged for distributing online porn to minors, a criminal offense in Germany. Many suspect an automated tool, but no one knows for sure.

Reels of Fortune: Instagram-shaped memories for a bigger reach

The algorithm used to do it for us, now we do it for the algorithm: Platforms seek data on what people think good memories are. One user tells us how she constructs an end-of-year Recap Reel on Instagram.

A dollar for your face: Meet the people behind Machine Learning models

What to expect from Europe’s first AI oversight agency

Spain announced the first national agency for the supervision of Artificial Intelligence. In its current shape, the plan is very industry-friendly and leaves little space to civil society.

Wolt: Couriers’ feelings don’t always match the transparency report

In August, the Finnish delivery service Wolt published its first “algorithmic transparency report”. We asked three couriers about their experiences. They don't always match the report’s contents.

Digital Bouncers: AI in Recruiting

Automated decision-making systems are increasingly used by companies to decide who is best for a job. Applicants are worried about being rejected by a machine, based on programmed prejudices. In Switzerland, employers are especially reluctant to speak about the hiring algorithms that they use.

AlgorithmWatch forced to shut down Instagram monitoring project after threats from Facebook

Digital platforms play an ever-increasing role in structuring and influencing public debate. Civil society watchdogs, researchers and journalists need to be able to hold them to account. But Facebook is increasingly fighting those who try. It shut down New York University’s Ad Observatory in August, and went after AlgorithmWatch, too.

Twitter apparently fixed their picture cropping

Health algorithms discriminate against Black patients, also in Switzerland

Algorithms used to assess kidney function or predict heart failure use race as a central criterion. There is no scientific basis to do so, and the results discriminate against Blacks.

Swiss police automated crime predictions but has little to show for it

A review of 3 automated systems in use by the Swiss police and judiciary reveals serious issues. Real-world effects are impossible to assess due to a lack of transparency.