Cities Run by Algorithms?

It seems that Washington DC is being run by computers and artificial intelligence type algorithms.

“29 obscure algorithms that shape their lives. City agencies use automation to screen housing applicants, predict criminal recidivism, identify food assistance fraud, determine if a high schooler is likely to drop out, inform sentencing decisions for young people, and many other things”

This a good thing since Washington DC government has been historically corrupt and incompetent (I used to live in that area).

But do we really want to go this direction?

Or perhaps we can go to the polls and elect new algorithms?

Algorithms Quietly Run the City of DC—and Maybe Your Hometown – A new report finds that municipal agencies in Washington deploy dozens of automated decision systems, often without residents’ knowledge.