Public Values in the Algorithmic Society

While outsourcing decision-making to (quasi-)automated systems may yield better decisions and faster and more efficient services, it transforms established routines, checks and balances, and institutions of decision-making, leading to new challenges for the realization of public values and unprecedented shifts in decision-making power. In light of the disruptive power of ADS and its implications for society, policymakers and academics alike have been pushing for ‘human-centric’ and value-sensitive ADS technology. But realizing public values in ADS requires a deeper understanding of the social, cultural, political, and economic realities of ADS; how technology, institutions, human actors, and public values interact; and the effects this has on people and society.

The OCW-funded Gravitation Program Public Values in the Algorithmic Society (AlgoSoc) is a response to the urgent need for an informed societal perspective on automation and automated decision-making. Grounded in a deep understanding of the systemic changes that ADS entail for core public institutions, for society, and for how public values are realized, AlgoSoc develops solutions for the design of governance frameworks needed to complement technology-driven initiatives in the algorithmic society.

The overarching research question for AlgoSoc is: How do we realize public values in the algorithmic society? Towards this end, it examines not only the theoretical underpinnings of public values, but also how these values translate into institutional design, legal frameworks, and individual or societal effects.

AlgoSoc is organized around four central research questions. To pursue these questions, our research program spans three sectors in society—justice, health, and media. While research in each sector will seek to answer these central research questions, a fourth line of research synthesizes the findings and draw on cross-sectoral insights on (the challenges of) realizing public values in the algorithmic society.

AlgoSoc will pave the way for a new generation of researchers, trained in tackling big challenges, in interdisciplinary teams and settings. AlgoSoc will offer evidence-based policy impact, positioning the Netherlands a leading hub in how to integrate public values in the algorithmic society. AlgoSoc will ultimately offer a compass to guide the algorithmic society.

Advancing a societal perspective on ADS and studying the realization of public values in the algorithmic society requires interdisciplinary commitment. AlgoSoc leverages the expertise of some of the world’s highest ranking groups in communication, law, governance, health, humancentric AI, computer and data science, with an extensive web of university based research groups and initiatives. The program is led by interdisciplinary research teams, combining expertise from the social sciences, humanities, and computer science. It also draws on a wide variety of research methods from each of these disciplines, and actively involves a range of societal partners who provide cases, data, and ADS users.