Ben Green

Core faculty

Ben Green

Assistant Professor

Ben Green Ben Green is an assistant professor in the University of Michigan School of Information and an assistant professor (by courtesy) in the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy. He holds a PhD in Applied Mathematics from Harvard University,…

News

Ford School welcomes new faculty that bridge research and policy engagement

Aug 21, 2023

A former foreign minister to Mali, a leading educational economist, a tech entrepreneur who explores indigenous technoscience are among the outstanding new faculty that add depth to the Ford School and connect student education, rigorous academic...

Ford School welcomes new faculty that bridge research and policy engagement

News

Green discusses the fairness of algorithms at Harvard University

Jan 10, 2023

Postdoctoral scholar Ben Green recently joined Harvard University's Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society for a webinar focused on what fairness means in the context of algorithms and how fairness can be measured. Joined by other scholars...

Using algorithms in government: Opportunities, challenges, and paths forward

Publication

Green discusses "substantive algorithmic fairness"

Oct 19, 2022

Ford School assistant professor Ben Green, and an affiliate of the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University, says that if algorithms are to improve society, focusing only on whether they’re mathematically “fair” won’t get us...

Publication

Green explores tech ethics and its boundaries in new paper

Feb 4, 2022

Who gets to define the ethics behind the use of technology in society? The discussion has become more pressing amid controversies related to misinformation, privacy, and algorithmic bias. Ben Green explores this question as editor of a special...

News

Green named Center for Democracy & Technology fellow

Jan 28, 2022

This week, the Center for Democracy & Technology (CDT) named Ben Green as a non-resident fellow. He joins Shobita Parthasarathy as one of 31 fellows from across the country that represent a wide range of fields and disciplines that inform CDT's...

Publication

Green’s paper receives Privacy Papers for Policymakers Award

Jan 13, 2022

The Future of Privacy Forum (FPF) recently awarded Ben Green, assistant professor and postdoctoral scholar, the Privacy Papers for Policymakers Award. The award is for Green’s paper, “The Flaws of Policies Requiring Human Oversight of Government...

In the Media

Green explains relationship between pandemic and government surveillance

Dec 9, 2021 Los Angeles Times

The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic allowed governments to roll out higher surveillance systems without pushback from citizens. Such emergencies “can be moments where governments roll out new invasive forms of data collection and it just becomes the...

In the Media

Human oversight of automated decision-making doesn't work, says Green

Sep 28, 2021 Protocol

Commenting on his recent research, Ben Green told Protocol, “The point is not to say: Let's just allow these algorithms to be used without the human oversight. But if we're only comfortable with these algorithms because we have human oversight, we...

News

Green calls for increased regulation with government use of algorithms

Sep 22, 2021

Do algorithms help or hinder human decision-making? In a recent op-ed for The Hill, Ben Green, an assistant professor and postdoctoral scholar, argues that policymakers need to consider how humans interact with AI when regulating the use of AI in...

Publication

Should complex, high-stakes government decisions be reliant on predictive algorithms?

Aug 27, 2021

Machine learning is increasingly used for government decision-making to predict adverse outcomes. For instance, many cities and states in the U.S. have adopted pretrial risk assessments that inform decisions about whether to release criminal...

News

Green takes a look at tech ethics

Jun 15, 2021

Technology companies have been at the center of many public controversies recently—from hacking threats and data security to fake news and manipulating algorithms. Do the ethics of technological advancement—"tech ethics"—have any influence on the...

STPP Lecture Series

Using algorithms in government: Opportunities, challenges, and paths forward

Feb 8, 2021, 4:00-5:00 pm EST

Ben Green, assistant professor of public policy, and Shobita Parthasarathy, professor of public policy and director of the Science, Technology, and Public Policy program, discuss the social and policy impacts of algorithms in government.