I don't think that is what is happening here though. In this case, the problem is actually much simpler than that... the algorithm is total garbage, and doesn't do what the company claims it does,...
I don't think that is what is happening here though. In this case, the problem is actually much simpler than that... the algorithm is total garbage, and doesn't do what the company claims it does, which is to increase the likelihood of successfully identifying adoptive parents for the children.
“The local staff reported that they did not find the tool particularly useful,” the Virginia Department of Social Services said in a statement, noting that Family-Match “had not proven effective” in the state.
Virginia social workers were also perplexed that the algorithm seemed to match all the children with the same group of parents, said Traci Jones, an assistant director at the state’s social services agency.
Georgia officials said they ended their initial pilot in October 2022 because the tool didn’t work as intended, ultimately only leading to two adoptions during their year-long experiment.
Social workers said the tool’s matching recommendations often led them to unwilling parents, leading them to question whether the algorithm was properly assessing the adults’ capacity to adopt those kids.
And sadly, a lot of biases in adoption boil down to "We want a white kid, not a brown kid". And if the algorithm was trying to help the most vulnerable...they're gonna get matched up against...
And sadly, a lot of biases in adoption boil down to "We want a white kid, not a brown kid". And if the algorithm was trying to help the most vulnerable...they're gonna get matched up against perfectly capable potential adoptive parents that don't want to say "We don't want a brown kid" out loud.
Yeah, I feel like this is more of a statement in how dating apps might work, more of a small commentary about maybe dating apps might not be as aligned to their user's interests tbh. Furthermore,...
Yeah, I feel like this is more of a statement in how dating apps might work, more of a small commentary about maybe dating apps might not be as aligned to their user's interests tbh.
Social workers say Family-Match works like this: Adults seeking to adopt submit survey responses via the algorithm’s online platform, and foster parents or social workers input each child’s information.
After the algorithm generates a score measuring the “relational fit,” Family-Match displays a list of the top prospective parents for each child. Social workers then vet the candidates.
Furthermore, it seems like the company itself is pretty cagey about data and protecting children, with some ties to anti-abortion orgs.
Virginia officials said once families’ data was entered into the tool, “Adoption Share owned the data.”
In Florida, two agencies acknowledged that they used Family-Match informally without a contract, but would not say how children’s data was secured.
An Associated Press investigation, however, found that the AI tool – among the few adoption algorithms on the market – has produced limited results in the states where it has been used, according to Family-Match’s self-reported data that AP obtained through public records requests from state and local agencies.
Ramirez also has overstated the capabilities of the proprietary algorithm to government officials as she has sought to expand its reach, even as social workers told AP that the tool wasn’t useful and often led them to unwilling families.
What's that? Algorithms tend to just enhance existing biases rather than overcome them?
In other news, water is wet.
I don't think that is what is happening here though. In this case, the problem is actually much simpler than that... the algorithm is total garbage, and doesn't do what the company claims it does, which is to increase the likelihood of successfully identifying adoptive parents for the children.
And sadly, a lot of biases in adoption boil down to "We want a white kid, not a brown kid". And if the algorithm was trying to help the most vulnerable...they're gonna get matched up against perfectly capable potential adoptive parents that don't want to say "We don't want a brown kid" out loud.
Yeah, I feel like this is more of a statement in how dating apps might work, more of a small commentary about maybe dating apps might not be as aligned to their user's interests tbh.
Furthermore, it seems like the company itself is pretty cagey about data and protecting children, with some ties to anti-abortion orgs.
The title reads like a horror story. Like something from Black Mirror.