I keep seeing people ask “why are algorithms and A.I. systems being used to do Bad Thing X while we’re told they can’t do Good Thing Y?”
It’s time to start strongly considering the possibility that they are working exactly as intended by the awful human beings who designed them.
It’s time to start strongly considering the possibility that they are working exactly as intended by the awful human beings who designed them.
Given current crises, I don’t think lecturing techies on “ethics” is sufficient to produce change on a useful timescale. The problems these harmful algorithms amplify are deeply ingrained & systemic. To actually solve them, we need to get closer to the metal, focus on root causes
If the legacy code of your society is colonial white supremacist cisheteropatriarchy, it’s a good bet that any systems built on top of it will produce results that benefit colonial white supremacist cisheteropatriarchy.
If there is a way forward, it begins by acknowledging this.
If there is a way forward, it begins by acknowledging this.
