The Association for Computing Machinery launched the peer-reviewed academic conference series in 2019 to address ethics and computing systems. This gathering was originally named ACM FAT* before evolving into the current title, ACM FAccT.
Keynote speakers at the event schedule include Yeshimabeit Milner and Latanya Sweeney who represent diverse fields including data science, public policy, and civil rights advocacy. These figures speak on algorithmic bias and machine learning risks alongside computer scientists, statisticians, social scientists, and scholars of law.
Big Tech companies including Facebook, Twitter, and Google provide financial support through general funds while large foundations such as the Rockefeller Foundation, Ford Foundation, MacArthur Foundation, and Luminate also contribute money. No contributions are earmarked for particular research topics or sessions and sponsors have no influence over the selection substance or structure of the conference content.
The 2024 call for articles targeted six key areas: Audits and Evaluation Practices, System Development and Deployment, Experiences and Interactions, Critical Studies, Law and Policy, and Philosophy. Researchers examine predictive recidivism algorithms like COMPAS deployed in US courts alongside Amazon's AI recruitment tool that favored male applicants.
Research presented at the conference has shaped government regulations including the European Union's AI Act and OECD AI Principles. Studies on algorithmic bias have influenced hiring methods at major technology companies making them fairer than before and governments use ideas from the conference to create guidelines and policies for managing artificial intelligence development.