Mechanical Turkers paid $1 are better at predicting recidivism than secret, private-sector algorithms

[HMSGoose]

@boingboing

It would be nice to examine the algorithm to see how it’s weighing the variables, but no dice: Northpointe, the firm that runs COMPAS, says it’s a proprietary secret.

Why the the government is allowed to buy proprietary, closed-source software, I’ll never understand.