Governments now use the ability to collect and analyze hundreds of data points everyday to automate many of their decisions, but does handing government decisions over to algorithms save time and money? Can algorithms be fairer or less biased than human decision making? Do they make us safer? Automation and artificial intelligence could improve the notorious inefficiencies of government, and it could exacerbate existing errors in the data being used to power it.

MuckRock and the Rutgers Institute for Information Policy & Law (RIIPL) have compiled a collection of algorithms used in communities across the country to automate government decision-making. They have also compiled policies and other guiding documents local governments use to make room for the future use of algorithms.

Learn more, explore the database of algorithms, and read through policies/guides here.