INSTRUCTIONS:
1: Listen to the ““Racism is America’s Oldest Algorithm”: How Bias Creeps Into Health
Care AI” episode of the Color Code podcast (via Sound Cloud or Apple Podcasts). Take
notes.
2: Answer essay questions A & B.
FORMATTING: Overall, your essay answers should be no more than 2-3 pages double spaced
total (excluding the citations/references page(s)). The font should be Times New Roman (12-
point) & with normal margins (1”). Make sure that you cite all scholarly & journalistic
references you use as sources of information following the STS-UY 2144 citation style guide.
ESSAY QUESTIONS:
A: Ziad Obermeyer discussed a case of algorithmic bias that he & other medical
practitioners were working with the company that made a health care AI to produce
non-discriminatory solutions. Obermeyer found that the algorithm underscored Black
patients who were in need of medical care while fast-tracking white patients for
receiving medical care. What roles do flaws in model design play in producing this case
of algorithmic bias (For example, model design flaws can be due to: definitions of
success; variables within the model; the data being used to train the algorithm; etc.)?
Identify & explain one limitation of utilizing algorithmic audits to catch algorithmic bias.
B: Consider this scenario, a software engineer & data scientist has been hired to develop
a health care AI to identify patients who are at risk of developing heart disease, but the
designer doesn’t know much about the histories of racism nor how racist discrimination
works. Define care ethics & then explain how the engineer is failing to meet the
requirements to practice care? Identify & define the ethical elements of care that the
engineer is failing to meet