--- title: "Microsoft Created Creepy Algorithm to Predict Which Specific Teens Would Get Pregnant" description: "A nightmarish mix of Big Tech overreach meets state authoritarianism resulted in algorithm to predict which low-income \"future teens\" in his province would be likely to get pregnant. " date: "2022-02-19" modified: "2022-02-19" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/microsoft-algorithm-teens-pregnant" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" tags: - "algorithms" - "microsoft" - "reproductive health" - "surveillance" --- # Microsoft Created Creepy Algorithm to Predict Which Specific Teens Would Get Pregnant ![A nightmarish mix of Big Tech overreach meets state authoritarianism resulted in algorithm to predict which low-income "future teens" in his province would be likely to get pregnant. ]() *\Image: Getty Images/Futurism\* It's a nightmarish mix of Big Tech overreach and state authoritarianism. The Argentinian province of Salta approved the development of a Microsoft algorithm in 2o18 that allegedly could determine which low-income "future teens" would be likely to get pregnant, a [shocking]()[ investigation by *Wired*]() reveals. The algorithm — which Microsoft called "one of the pioneering cases in the use of AI data" — used demographic data including age, ethnicity, disability, country of origin, and whether or not their home had hot water in its bathroom, to determine which of the women and girls living in a small Argentinian town were "predestined" for motherhood. The opaque program, which was celebrated on national television by then-governor Juan Manuel Urtubey, was offered to the province by Microsoft in 2018, at the same time Argentina's Congress was debating whether to decriminalize abortion, *Wired* notes. The magazine's reporting found that the women and girls Microsoft's algorithm identified as would-be teen moms were often disenfranchised in various ways, from having poor backgrounds and migrant families to indigenous heritage. The algorithm, known as the Technology Platform for Social Intervention, is noteworthy due to the fact that an American company like Microsoft chose to deploy such a program in a country with a long history of [surveillance]() and [population control]() measures. Those leanings are apparent in the lack of transparency surrounding the program. For one, the Argentinian government never formally assessed the algorithm's impact on girls and women. Worse yet, according to *Wired*, the program involved the deployment of "territorial agents" who surveyed those identified by the AI as being predestined for pregnancy, took photos of them, and even recorded their GPS locations. It's still unclear what the provincial or national governments did with the data and how — or if — they related to the abortion debate. In 2020, Argentina voted to decriminalize abortion, a historic moment for the South American nation — but the program's very existence should be cause for concern. The report should serve as a warning of the potentially dangerous intersection between American AI tech and authoritarianism, and offers a much-needed reminder that we have, for the time being, much less to fear from the algorithms themselves than from the humans behind them. **READ MORE:** [The Case of the Creepy Algorithm That ‘Predicted’ Teen Pregnancy]() \[*Wired*\] **More on predictive algorithms:** [*Data Scientists Say They’ve Developed Algorithms to Predict the Next Coup Attempt*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()