Computers can't predict somebody's future
A resident argues that housing allocation scores cannot capture changing personal circumstances.
Key Excerpts
There's just no way for a computer to accurately predict somebody's future based on that limited data. [...] If a person is alone, scared, and suffering from fears of institutions, a computer doesn't know that.
Because you haven't been homeless long enough, you don't deserve housing.
The living cost, income, nothing is the same. How can you predict for now when nothing in the world is the same? [...] The world evolves every day, so their criteria for the prediction should evolve with the world.
In April 2026, I talked with the Allegheny County Government housing office about the housing allocation algorithm after trying to get housing help in Pittsburgh. There is just no way for a computer to accurately predict somebody's future based on limited data. If a person is alone, scared, and afraid of institutions, the computer does not know that.
My living cost, income, health, and support changed from month to month. A caseworker could hear that when I explained it, but the housing score treated the file like a stable picture. I kept thinking: the world changes every day, so the criteria should be able to change too.
Citation: (Kuo et. al, 2023)
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