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There is a difference between racial profiling on the individual level and racial profiling on the government level. On the individual level, a single person s

There is a difference between racial profiling on the individual level and racial profiling on the government level. On the individual level, a single person simply doesn't have that much power. As a representative of the US border and custom institution, a TSA agent's poorly thought out hunch can have far ranging effects. Additionally, TSA agents are not subject to stringent educational requirements nor tested for having good quality judgment. In reality, they have been shown time and time again to have shockingly poor judgment. For instance, in one case they believed that a man who showed up to the airport without eating must have been doing so for Ramadan and, therefore, required 'enhanced scrutiny' which made him miss his flight. This resulted in a missed work opportunity, and over 2000 worth of costs in non-refundable plane and hotel fees at his destination. In reality, he skipped breakfast to catch his early flight for a tech conference, and had the poor luck of having a darker than caucasian tan skin colour.

eggy 11y ago
So a random left|right arrow performs better? I wasn't really calling for 'racial profiling'; I was trying to convey that the use of a random arrow app totally removes human judgement no matter how flawed it may be. We need to address the abuses of people in powers of authority, but not remove the ability or tools to do the job they are hired for. There has to be some allowance for judgement without prejudice in perception. Yes, it sometimes results in ignorant and racist people making horrible decisions, and given too much power. We have to allow for some human common sense here, otherwise, bring on the robots and AI, and I hope they can achieve better (although, AI, or computational intelligence, is not at a level of a human's ability to synthesize untrained data into a 'hunch' or 'gut feeling' wired through experience). Regardless, I feel the whole TSA thing is a political charade, and this has been proven in the press countless times, and by the two times I forgot to remove my multi-tool from my carry-on before boarding, and it was not detected. I now live in East Java, Indonesia, and I am accused of having a 'darker than Caucasian tan skin colour.' who refer to foreigners (Westerners) as 'buleh'. I also awake to call-to-prayers each day, and hear it another 4 times in the day. Let's say my birth and upbringing in a predominantly Hispanic neighborhood, and now in a majority-Muslim region has even tempered my tolerance more than most average people in the world. Having lived in SE Asia, I can tell you that the level of prejudice reminds me of where we were at in the U.S.A. in the early 70s (Chinese to other 'dark-skinned' SE Asians, to white Westerners, etc...).
- visarga 11y ago
  > bring on the robots and AI, and I hope they can achieve better AI can also be biased, depending on the data it was trained on. The government employees might be biased, but they are a few. AI on the other hand has the potential to scale up discrimination to planetary levels, if we allow those who control it to do so. A lot of our life influencing factors will be decided by AIs in the future.

eggy 11y ago

So a random left|right arrow performs better? I wasn't really calling for 'racial profiling'; I was trying to convey that the use of a random arrow app totally removes human judgement no matter how flawed it may be. We need to address the abuses of people in powers of authority, but not remove the ability or tools to do the job they are hired for. There has to be some allowance for judgement without prejudice in perception. Yes, it sometimes results in ignorant and racist people making horrible decisions, and given too much power. We have to allow for some human common sense here, otherwise, bring on the robots and AI, and I hope they can achieve better (although, AI, or computational intelligence, is not at a level of a human's ability to synthesize untrained data into a 'hunch' or 'gut feeling' wired through experience). Regardless, I feel the whole TSA thing is a political charade, and this has been proven in the press countless times, and by the two times I forgot to remove my multi-tool from my carry-on before boarding, and it was not detected. I now live in East Java, Indonesia, and I am accused of having a 'darker than Caucasian tan skin colour.' who refer to foreigners (Westerners) as 'buleh'. I also awake to call-to-prayers each day, and hear it another 4 times in the day. Let's say my birth and upbringing in a predominantly Hispanic neighborhood, and now in a majority-Muslim region has even tempered my tolerance more than most average people in the world. Having lived in SE Asia, I can tell you that the level of prejudice reminds me of where we were at in the U.S.A. in the early 70s (Chinese to other 'dark-skinned' SE Asians, to white Westerners, etc...).

visarga 11y ago
> bring on the robots and AI, and I hope they can achieve better AI can also be biased, depending on the data it was trained on. The government employees might be biased, but they are a few. AI on the other hand has the potential to scale up discrimination to planetary levels, if we allow those who control it to do so. A lot of our life influencing factors will be decided by AIs in the future.