ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Sarah de Heer

Sarah de Heer is a PhD candidate at the Faculty of Law of Lund University, where she researches the right to good administration and ADM systems used in health. Her research is part of the WASP-HS research project ‘AI and Automated Systems and the Right to Health – Revisiting Law Accounting for the Exploitation of Users Preferences and Values’.

POSTS BY Sarah de Heer

25 July 2023

Sarah de Heer

A Scandal on AI in Administration, Again

After the infamous Dutch benefits scandal, the Netherlands are yet again the scene of wrongful application of an algorithm by the government. This time, the main actor is the Dienst Uitvoering Onderwijs (DUO), the Dutch agency responsible for the allocation and payment of student loans to those enrolled in Dutch higher education. Specifically, DUO used an algorithm in their enforcement task, namely to verify whether the student loans have been rightfully allocated. In 2012, DUO commenced the use of this ‘in-house’ algorithm, which the Minister of Education – under whose responsibility DUO falls – halted on 23 June. The developments in the Netherlands epitomize the promises and pitfalls of further integrating automated decision-making (ADM) into public administration. On the one hand, ADM – sometimes labelled ‘artificial intelligence’ – is cheap and promises efficiency gains. On the other hand, ADM systems may be error-prone when facing the complex realities of societal life and legal ambiguity. Continue reading >>