Free. Reception to follow.

From policing to sentencing, the criminal justice system is quickly turning to computerized decision-making. The promise for fighting crime is greater efficiency and more accuracy. The promise for progressive reformers is the replacement of biased humans with unbiased computer algorithms. Underneath all of the engineering problems are philosophical ones. Barry Lam will discuss the ethical issues concerning the role that predictive algorithms should play in the administration of criminal justice.

Barry Lam is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Vassar College and Host and Executive Producer of Slate's Hi-Phi Nation podcast. He received his PhD from Princeton in 2007 and has taught at Vassar since 2006. Hi-Phi Nation is in production for its fourth season.

Eastern State Penitentiary extends a special welcome to Vassar Club of Philadelphia members.

This event is part of Eastern State's ongoing Searchlight Series of events addressing issues in contemporary corrections. The Searchlight Series discussions take place the first Tuesday of every month, free and open to the public. No reservations required.