Criminal Justice and Artificial Intelligence: The Ethics of the Use of Algorithms at Sentencing
Name of applicant
Jesper Ryberg
Title
Professor
Institution
Roskilde University
Amount
DKK 21,168,131
Year
2024
Type of grant
Semper Ardens: Advance
What?
Principal investigator team: • Professor Jesper Ryberg, Roskilde University • Professor Thomas Søbirk Petersen, Roskilde University The purpose of this project is to generate CenjAIl: A research center for the study of the ethical challenges that arise from the use of artificial intelligence in the process of determining sentences of criminal offenders. It will assess and develop solutions to a range of the most theoretically and practically urgent challenges associated with the use of AI at the criminal court.
Why?
Artificial intelligence is becoming omnipresent. It is reasonable to expect that AI in the near future will be involved at sentencing. AI has already found its way into the work of criminal courts in some jurisdictions. However, it is also generally acknowledged that the questions as to when and how AI should be used at sentencing gives rise to many theoretically under-explored challenges.
How?
CenjAIl wil analyze and develop answers to a range of the most urgent ethical challenges that arise from the use of AI at sentencing. These involves problems concerning algorithmic fairness, algorithmic transparency, trust in algorithmic support systems, and risk of misuse within populist penal systems. It will generate a hub for the work of philosophers, legal scholars, and other scientists.