Understand, Manage, and Prevent Algorithmic Bias: A Guide for Business Users and Data Scientists

© Tobias Baer 2019

Tobias BaerUnderstand, Manage, and Prevent Algorithmic Biashttps://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4842-4885-0_3

3. How Algorithms Debias Decisions

Tobias Baer¹ 

(1)

Kaufbeuren, Germany

 

In the previous chapter, you took a crash course in psychology to understand why humans are sometimes biased in their decision-making and what some of the most prevalent biases are. In this chapter, aimed primarily at readers who do not have experience in building algorithms themselves, I will explain how an algorithm works. More specifically, I will show how a good algorithm works and how it thereby can alleviate human bias; in later chapters you then can understand more easily how algorithms can go awry (i.e., show bias)—and what the different options are ...