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by scarejunba 2480 days ago
The algorithm exists. Just because it’s not machine-executable doesn’t make it not an algorithm.
1 comments

It's exercised by humans though, with gives _some_ accountability.

Try asking a computer in court what it was thinking when it ran the algorithm.

Why? The algo should obviously be public so if you went to court you'd question the algo or its impl, not the computer. After all, you only want restitution and correction of the issue, not punishment.
> The algo should obviously be public

Given that, at least in the US, people had to regularly sue corporations that defend the secrecy of their fancy algorithms^W^W Excel sheets as trade secrets... that's not as obvious as you might think.

Which is completely unrelated to public entities.
Why would that be? Health care providers, bail risk assessment software for courts, ... it's not like some public entity like the IRS would be likely to develop much in-house.
Just like the IRS must publish all their rules on taxes, likewise that would be necessary for their algorithm.