Artificial intelligence may be able to help address racial bias in the services provided to unhoused individuals, according to a new study.
Led by the University of Southern California’s Center for Artificial Intelligence in Society and created in collaboration with the Los Angeles Homeless Services Agency, AI was implemented in a new three-year research project that aimed to provide measures that homeless agencies can use to reduce racial bias in housing.
In a newly released report, the researchers identified two data system models that can be used to predict who would need to be prioritized when housing resources are distributed. The triage tool incorporated the data systems through a 19-question questionnaire created to measure how susceptible they are to becoming unhoused.
The researchers reported in their findings that, using the AI model, there was a three percent decrease in unhoused individuals, implying that there could be a decrease in overall unhoused individual rates.
“We’ve made an important step forward for Los Angeles in addressing the really challenging social problems of racial bias and homelessness, and we’ve done it in a way that is both technologically innovative and also driven by the values of the community,” said the leader of the project and co-director of the Center for Artificial Intelligence in Society, Professor Eric Rice, per an official press release. “It’s a great example of social science and data science coming together to do more than either discipline could do on their own.”
After 3 yrs we are sharing our work toward “addressing the really challenging social problems of racial bias and homelessness, and we’ve done it in a way that is both technologically innovative and also driven by the values of the community,” @EricRicePhD https://t.co/CeIcg3X4Qm
— USC Center for AI in Society (@CAIS_USC) December 6, 2023
In Los Angeles, a housing crisis continues to grow as there was a documented nine percent increase in unhoused individuals on any given night, per the 2023 Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count.
Of the rate of unhoused individuals, a majority of those left without housing are Black Americans. Per the Neighborhood Housing Services of Los Angeles County, Black Americans compose 34% of the 66,000 people without a home in Los Angeles. This is despite the fact that they make up only 8% of Los Angeles residents.
A major contributing factor to this stark disparity noted in rates of unhoused individuals is institutional racism. The Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority estimates that if institutional racism didn’t exist, 15,000 people would have homes.
Across the U.S., this disparity persists. Approximately 48 out of every 10,000 unhoused individuals across the country are Black Americans, per the National Alliance to End Homelessness. This rate is more than four times larger than the rate recorded by white Americans; approximately 11 white Americans out of every 10,000 individuals are unhoused.
