Rockefeller Reads discussion
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Kelly
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Jun 29, 2020 10:23AM
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Questions will be posted on the following dates:July 3 -- Introduction and Chapter 1: Poorhouse to Database
July 6 – Chapter 2: Automating Inequality in the Heartland
July 9 – Chapter 3: High-Tech Homelessness in the City of Angels
July 12 – Chapter 4: The Allegheny Algorithm
July 15 – Chapter 5: Digital Poorhouse
July 18 – Conclusion
July 21 – Afterword
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS for Introduction and Chapter 1:1.1) Automating Inequality starts with a story about Eubanks’ partner being red-flagged by an algorithm intended to identify insurance fraud. Share an experience you’ve had when a digital tool predicted something about you or made a decision that impacted your life. How did that feel?
1.2) In Chapter 1, Eubanks provides a history of U.S. poverty policy since 1819. What most surprised you about this history? Why do you think the author wants readers to know this history before exploring more modern tools like predictive analytics and artificial intelligence in social services?
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS for Chapter 2:2.1) What most frustrated or frightened you about the story of the Indiana eligibility modernization? What most inspired you?
2.2) How did the IBM/ACS system impact caseworkers and clients of public services in Indiana? Did it change the relationship between them?
2.3) Many proponents of high-tech tools in public services argue that they increase efficiency and objectivity in agency decision-making. Was that true in the Indiana experiment? Why or why not?
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS for Chapter 3:3.1) Many readers comment on Eubanks’ approach to describing and analyzing the US housing crisis and the unhoused community. Anything in this chapter that was new to you about homelessness? What surprised you?
3.2) The coordinated entry system is touted as a way to connect some of the most vulnerable people in the country with appropriate available resources as quickly as possible: an entirely admirable goal. So what are Eubanks' main concerns about the system?
3.3) Eubanks makes an argument near the end of Chapter 3 about the problem with "triage" approaches to homeless services. What is it? Do you agree? What's the alternative?
Re Chapter 1.1 question: When I was applying for a car loan a few years back, I was auto-denied by the bank's application system because my debt to income ratio was too high, as I had put the full amount of my rent in the expenses disclosure field. I called the bank (many minutes on hold later) and explained that actually I only pay a 3rd of that due to having roommates and was told auto-denials were final. 1.2 I think this history provides needed context about how we as a society got here, especially regarding our attitudes and biases towards the poor. I was fairly surprised at the sheer number of poor houses cited. I always thought they were mostly a British thing.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS for Chapter 4:4.1) Eubanks often calls the story of the Allegheny Family Safety Tool (AFST) the "most complicated story in the book, both technically and ethically." What stood out for you in this chapter? A person? A situation? A technical or policy detail?
4.2) Eubanks' interviewees accuse the Allegheny County Department of Human Services of "poverty profiling." Do you agree with them? Why or why not?
4.3) Do you think Allegheny County should continue using the AFST? Why or why not?
Adele wrote: I was fairly surprised at the sheer number of poor houses cited. Thanks for chiming in, Adele. I was surprised, too. When I started the research, I had no idea how common poorhouses were in the US. Now that I've learned to notice them, I see Poorfarm Roads and County Farm Roads everywhere I go! It's one of those open secrets -- we know and don't know this history at the same time.
Virginia wrote: "DISCUSSION QUESTIONS for Chapter 2:2.1) What most frustrated or frightened you about the story of the Indiana eligibility modernization? What most inspired you?
I wish I could say this story was surprising, but as someone who worked for OCFS and currently works for a large insurance company, this was eerily familiar. The magical thinking surrounding automation and the big promises made by execs and politicians never, ever pan out, and the frustrating part is that most people think technology is infallable. As someone said in this chapter, 'they just assume they don't qualify and give up.' What inspired me was the tenacity of some of the applicants, particularly the woman who suffered from seizures and was on a 3-day clock!
2.2) How did the IBM/ACS system impact caseworkers and clients of public services in Indiana? Did it change the relationship between them?
The Theory of Change here was that "relationships breed corruption." The system did exactly what it set out to do, which was destroy relationships, and more than that, destroy accountability. Since no one worker "owned" any one case, it was so easy for clients to be caught in a round robin of phone tag, and not so easy for workers to invest in any one client.
2.3) Many proponents of high-tech tools in public services argue that they increase efficiency and objectivity in agency decision-making. Was that true in the Indiana experiment? Why or why not?
I mean, it was objectively terrible to just about everyone so, perversely, yes I think it did increase objectivity. It definitely did NOT increase efficiency - very quickly clients learned the workaround was to just show up at the office, and then there was that whole section where freaking Librarians had to do social work for free...the hearings system was gummed up, the call centers were gummed up....just a total disaster!
CHAP 5, CONCLUSION, AFTERWORD5.1) What does Eubanks argue is similar between the digital poorhouse than the attempts to regulate the poor that went before? What's different?
5.2) Why should the digital poorhouse matter, even to those who don't experience it directly?
C.1) What do you think of Eubanks' "Oath of Non-Harm"? What other solutions to the problems she describes can you imagine?
A.1) Why do you think Eubanks chose to talk about masonry in the afterword to the paperback edition? What point do you think she is trying to make?
