Automating Inequality: How High-Tech Tools Profile, Police, and Punish the Poor

In "Automating Inequality" the author very capably leads the reader through a journey around which the humanity and morality of those who advocate for policing decisions to be offloaded to soul-less algorithms is called to question. The material in many ways is scary, the stories well-researched and the conclusion well-derived. Without active and intense scrutiny the number of victims will increase, those that aren't victims could begin to ostracize those that are and our collective humanity and empathy will be eroded.

A great book, not always my personal cup of tea but an area I like to read about. Detailed explanation through three case studies, in Illinois, Pennsylvania, and California, about how digitized systems make life worse for those already on the bottom end of the poverty scale. One might also point out the three examples are also near the bottom for states delivering economic power but the real emphasis is on the depersonalization created through digital systems. A key example suggests the layers of documentation is actually worse in managing problems as exceptions disappear and personal needs are removed. The real problem does not appear as the digital sense but the bureaucracy that accompanies those transitions. If the solutions in the book were used to improve visibility, the rest of the situation would likely improve as well.

“Automating Inequality” is the rare book that manages to offer extensively researched and tremendously insightful information in a page-turner. Drawing on the voices of those who work in social services - and those who leverage those services - this book details how algorithmic technologies are upending basic government programs supporting the unhoused in accessing shelter, providing access to welfare, and managing child services programs. Eubanks offers historical context about the role of the poorhouse in earlier American societies to explain how, through technology, we’ve built a digital poorhouse that is just as abusive and stigmatizing. This is a critical read for anyone who is trying to understand poverty in America and why well-intended technology is only going to be used to exacerbate existing social inequities. “Automating Inequality” is ethnography at its best, on par with Barbara Ehrenreich’s “Nickel and Dimed” or Matt Desmond’s “Evicted.” I cannot rave loudly enough about the awesomeness of this book.

Excellent book that is hard to put down because its revelations are so powerful. Sadly, America never ceases to blame and punish the poor and poor families. This book quickly reviews our grossly dysfunctional history in that regard and shows how high-tech monitoring and investigative tools are making our nation's methods for addressing poverty more dysfunctional (and just plain mean) than ever.

My reaction to this book is the same as that of another 3 star reviewer (James) in that, while this is an interesting read, it is not primarily about automating equality., it is first and foremost about poverty and cultural attitudes to poverty and inequality.The book opens promisingly with a story about her and her partner's personal nightmare when their health insurance company's computer decided that a perfectly legitimate claim that they made was might be fraudulent. I expected this theme to continue, but instead the technology is subsequently shunted into a supporting role in a much wider tract of advocacy on behalf of the disadvantaged. It is not that I disagree with much of what the author says, but she never demonstrates adequately how technology is central to the problems the poor now face - something one would think would not be that hard to do. Maybe her knowledge of technology is limited, but I was hoping for more about the problems of asking computers to make highly complex social decisions.Instead we get a lot of politics and political history and three complicated, multi-dimensional case studies. The latter are well described, but as I said, whatever the reality, the computer systems come across as only bit players in the accounts the author provides. I guess that I was hoping for a version of Cathy O'Neil's "Weapons of Math Destruction" only applied to inequality, but what I got was something different.

Informative and interesting. Easy and accessible language. Anyone from middle classes down should read this book, and it's applicable not just to the USA although all examples are from the USA. If you think that the poor are living in luxury at your expense, then you need to read this book. If you one day find yourself needing support, then you may be surprised at how punitive systems can be.

If you're a researcher or practitioner who wants to create new methods for evaluating risks, prioritizing benefits, or similar applications, read this first. It is a great analysis grounded on the study of three key cases in the US, but from which you can draw general conclusions and guidelines.