Silvia Milano (Exeter): “Algorithmic profiling as a source of hermeneutical injustice” (with C. Prunkl)

This event will take place in person on LSE’s campus. However, those unable to attend in person will have the option of taking part online.

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Abstract: It is a well-established fact that algorithms can be instruments of injustice. It is less frequently discussed, however, how current modes of AI deployment often make the very discovery of injustice difficult, if not impossible. In this paper, we focus on the effects of algorithmic profiling on epistemic agency. In particular, we show how algorithmic profiling can give rise to epistemic injustice through the depletion of epistemic resources that are needed to interpret and evaluate certain experiences. By doing so, we not only demonstrate how the philosophical conceptual framework of epistemic injustice can help pinpoint systematic harms from algorithmic profiling, but we also identify a novel source of hermeneutical injustice that to date has received little attention in the relevant literature.

Silvia Milano is a Lecturer in Philosophy of Data and Data Ethics in the SPA Department and Egenis centre at the University of Exeter.