Fairness and Monkeys Experiment

The podcast episode begins with a discussion about an experiment involving capuchin monkeys that highlights the concept of fairness. The monkeys were given the task of exchanging a rock for a treat from a researcher. When one monkey received a grape as a reward while the other received a cucumber, the monkey that received the cucumber displayed clear signs of dissatisfaction and frustration. This experiment demonstrates the innate sense of fairness that primates have and raises questions about the fairness of decisions made by machines and algorithms in various aspects of our lives, such as resume selection, dating app profiles, and gig worker assignments.