The Future of Prediction: The Social Consequences of Algorithmic Forecast in Insurance, Medicine and Policing

The digital era is developing new tools to predict the future and enhance new pathways for specific social areas such as insurance, medicine and policing. The ability to predict the future could lead to better management of the uncertainty that is associated with the future. However, such knowledge could affect a wide range of practices with significant social impact. The EU-funded PREDICT project will develop an inclusive method to study the social, practical and theoretical consequences of prediction in the digital era. The project will investigate three significant social areas: personalised insurance, precision medicine and predictive policing. To achieve its goal, the project will connect the new algorithmic forms of prediction with big data and machine learning.