Prediction proves so difficult for humans in this situation because of the complexity of the factors that might explain crime rates. Prediction machines are much better than humans at factoring in complex interactions among different indicators. So, while you might believe that a past criminal record may mean that a defendant is a bigger flight risk, the machine may have discovered that is only the case if the defendant has been unemployed for a certain period of time. In other words, the interaction effect may be the most important, and as the number of dimensions for such interactions grows,
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