Welcome to the website of BIAS – Bias and Discrimination in Big Data and Algorithmic Processing. Philosophical Assessments, Legal Dimensions, and Technical Solutions, a project funded by the Volkswagen Foundation.
BIAS is an interfaculty research initiative composed of experts from philosophy, law, and computer science, bringing together epistemological and ethical, legal and technical perspectives.
Our shared research question is: How can we ensure that big data analysis and algorithm-based decision-making are unbiased and nondiscriminatory? To this end, we provide philosophical analyses of relevant concepts and principles, investigate their utilisation in pertinent legal frameworks, and develop technical solutions such as debiasing strategies and discrimination detection procedures.
Our shared belief is: It is not just the algorithms, but rather the entire system of computer predictions and human decisions, which must qualify as unbiased and nondiscriminatory. Our solutions therefore will target the whole decision-making process rather than isolated components.