Most American colleges are so obsessed with “diversity” that they’re apt to do all they can to evade the Supreme Court’s decision that racial preferences are illegal. Will artificial intelligence help them do so?

In today’s Martin Center article, Stephen Halley argues that it will.

He writes:

While AI has thus far been used primarily to read and filter applications and transcripts, developments are being made to use it as part of a ‘holistic’ admissions process. Researchers at UC-Boulder and UPenn, for example, have developed an AI model that can read and analyze admissions essays for certain phrases or characteristics that signify particular criteria about a candidate.

In other words, they’ll search for clues as to whether the applicant is from a favored group or not.

Halley continues:

At the end of the day, AI software can do only what it is told to do. We can be sure, given contemporary staffing realities, that admissions officers will program AI systems in ways that reflect their progressive priors.

I suspect that he’s right and the fight for racially neutral admissions will continue on.