One of my great fears about these systems is that they act as empathy overrides. That they provide us the space we need to deny and to ignore some of our most pressing social justice questions in this country. And I believe the vast explosion of these tools, and the increased politics of austerity that we see in our country right now, have really grown up together, and rely on each other.

Political scientist Virginia Eubanks explains how a bi-partisan, technocratic shift towards automating social service and welfare programs works to encode and amplify inequality in America - building a vast 'digital poorhouse' that controls the flow of resources and policing in neighborhoods, and punishes those most in need of support.

Virginia is author of Automating Inequality: How High-Tech Tools Profile, Police, and Punish the Poor from St. Martin's Press.