NeurIPS 2020

How do fair decisions fare in long-term qualification?


Meta Review

The paper investigates the problem of fairness when decisions affect future distributions, using a POMDP model. Three knowledgeable reviewers have carefully considered the strengths and weaknesses of the paper, with two reviewers recommending accept, and one just below the threshold. The author rebuttal was considered, and the reviewers discussed their ratings, as well as adjusted some aspects of their reviews. Reviewer #3 raised many issues, but clearly stated that the paper is strong, and was positive during the post rebuttal discussions. Reviewer #2 and #5 had concerns about the conceptual framing of the problem, and which I feel is balanced by the novelty of the setting considered. All reviewers identified improvements that can be made on the empirical results. During discussion, the reviewers agreed that the setting is interesting and a timely topic, and while there are rough edges to the execution, I recommend to accept for NeurIPS 2020. I strongly encourage the authors to update the paper to address all the valid issues observed by the reviewers for the final version.