Experiencing (Un)Fairness
In completing this warmup, please keep in mind that you will be asked to share with your group and potentially with the class.
Take 30 minutes to write two paragraphs.
Your Experience of Unfairness
In your first paragraph, please respond to the following prompt:
You can choose to discuss a decision that either unfairly harmed or unfairly benefited you.
When was a time in your life in which you felt that you were the subject of an unfair decision? What was it about that decision that made it feel unfair, rather than just bad, disappointing, or surprising?
Fairness in an Automated Decision System
In your second paragraph, please give a brief synopsis of the discussion of Figure 4 in the Introduction of BHN, by responding in complete sentences to the following questions:
- In this figure, roughly what fraction of hired employees would be green triangles?
- Why might someone say that the classification model is fair? Why might someone else say that it is unfair? What does your instinct tell you in this toy example?
- The authors consider the idea of using separate thresholds for blue squares and green triangles. Does this suggestion sound fair to you? How would you feel about this approach if you were a green triangle? If you were a blue square?
Please bring your paragraphs to class and be ready to share with your group.
© Phil Chodrow, 2025