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This comment is missing the point. The problem is that the algorithms can reinforce the disadvantaged situation of some groups of people, instead of help improv
by ufo 9y ago
This comment is missing the point. The problem is that the algorithms can reinforce the disadvantaged situation of some groups of people, instead of help improve it. And the thin veneer of objectivity that the algorithms provide can legitimize something that might be effectively a racist policy.
- grawprog 9y agoThen they're shitty algorithms that don't work properly or your data is incomplete. If your data is showing biases it's because they exist in the world not because the data is racist.
- ufo 9y agoYes, the problem has always been about what we do with the data instead of the data itself. The issue now is that people currently put a lot of blind trust on machine learning, even if the input data is garbage or the output doesn't have the intended result.
- grawprog 9y agoNot just machine learning. I remember learning in ecology that if the computer models didn't match with reality. Reality was probably wrong the model just needed better variables. I remember thinking how incredibly stupid that was at the time. Now I realize that's the way it works with everything and has for a while. The problem with modelling real world systems is there are too many variables and we have no way of knowing just how many their are and what effects they all actually have on a system. We can never make a complete model yet we act and make decisions as a society as though our models are complete and infallible.
- justaman 9y agoI don't think its necessarily the job of data to improve a situation. Rather its the data that will define the problem.