Share this page!

Rachel Thomas Profile picture
Twitter logo
3 Dec, 4 tweets, 1 min read
A problem w telling people "just trust the medical experts" is that they still need enough time & scientific literacy to discern whether to trust "experts" promoting mass infection of kids, droplet transmission, & claims LongCovid is psychogenic, OR experts who say opposite 1/
(to be clear, do NOT trust the 1st group)

There seem to be ZERO professional consequences for repeatedly being wrong for last 22 months. Some folks in 1st group have prestigious credentials & platforms in major media outlets. General public may not know their track records 2/
So general public needs to invest a fair amount of time (which many do not have) just to know who to trust, what is true, & how to stay safe. At the same time, will be condescended to & criticized for disagreeing w/ "experts" 3/
For much of this, it was clear at the time that so-called experts were drawing bad conclusions & giving harmful advice. This isn't just in hindsight.

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
　

Keep Current with Rachel Thomas

Rachel Thomas Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @math_rachel

Rachel Thomas Profile picture
1 Dec
There has been more focus on whether the public trusts institutions (governments, medicine, public health orgs) than on how those institutions could better earn our trust. 1/

Western leaders have expressed confidence even when they were completely wrong, and have been unwilling to express uncertainty, even when it would have been more honest 2/

We've seen politicians upgrade parliament to have excellent air ventilation, as school children & essential workers are forced into poorly ventilated buildings with insufficient mitigations #COVIDisAirborne 3/

Read 14 tweets
Rachel Thomas Profile picture
30 Nov
On *reviewability* of automated decision making (ADM), rather than *explainability*

Reviewability does not necessarily involve explanations. It is about exposing the decision-making process, including human processes, structures, & systems around a model

papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cf… Reviewability of ADM does not therefore necessarily involve
Explanations focused on how a model has arrived at an output may miss much of what is important. A more holistic view could include information on testing & auditing procedures, training data, effects of decisions on protected characteristics, & more. 2/ @jennifercobbe As such, explanations focused on how the model itself has ar
Judicial review of public sector decision-making does not simply assess the decision itself, but the decision-making process as a whole

An understanding of human decision-making as a process that begins before the decision and that has consequences that resonate afterwards 3/ act in line with long-established principles of good adminis
Read 4 tweets
Rachel Thomas Profile picture
29 Nov
My newest post: Doing Data Science for Social Good, Responsibly 1/

fast.ai/2021/11/23/dat…
Data use by non-profits can be powerful, such as this CA vaccine equity analysis by @ACLU_NorCal @snowjake & @DataInstituteSF @MaxShinnerl (I mentored) 2/

Recent projects in which @QUTDataScience partnered with @CCQld & @fareshare_aus were a success 3/
Read 10 tweets
Rachel Thomas Profile picture
28 Nov
Flaws of countering disinfo w/ appeal to authority:

"Worrying about whether we trust institutions without asking if these institutions deserve trust... A program of infantalization – trust that the adults know what is right – will provoke equally infantile resistance." @Aelkus We have gotten very far from the original goal of trying to
Failure of legacy institutions to respond appropriately to the pandemic, from March 2020 @aelkus, h/t @RSButner

aelkus.github.io/problem/2020/0…
A society that cares more about declining trust in institutions than what institutions have done to deserve trust – and which devotes far more effort towards managing the behavioral psychology of risk than actually reducing risk – is engaged in narrative-making above all else. Managing public health and disease was one of the core tasks
Read 4 tweets
Rachel Thomas Profile picture
26 Nov
Compared to ethics principles in medicine, AI ethics principles lack:
1. common aims & fiduciary duties
2. professional history & norms
3. proven methods to translate principles into practice
4. robust legal & professional accountability mechanisms

nature.com/articles/s4225…
"The truly difficult part of ethics—actually translating theories, concepts & values into good practices AI practitioners can adopt—is kicked down the road like the proverbial can." @b_mittelstadt 2/
"Ethics has a cost. AI is often developed behind closed doors without public representation... It cannot be assumed that value-conscious frameworks will be meaningfully implemented in commercial processes that value efficiency, speed and profit." 3/
Read 4 tweets
Rachel Thomas Profile picture
25 Nov
🧵on Google, Tech Regulation, & Risk of Industry Capture in 🇦🇺

"Google’s investment in Australia’s tech future — a boon for universities or a Faustian bargain?" by @jordanguiao 1/

abc.net.au/religion/googl…
Australia's competition regulator found:
- Google engages in anti-competitive behavior in digital advertising, which harms consumers & businesses
accc.gov.au/media-release/…

- monopoly on search has "stifled innovation and reduced consumer choice"
ia.acs.org.au/article/2021/a… 2/
Australian federal court found that Google misled Australian mobile and tablet users on how it collects location data 3/

abc.net.au/news/2021-04-1…
Read 7 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!

This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal

Or Donate anonymously using crypto!

Ethereum

0xfe58350B80634f60Fa6Dc149a72b4DFbc17D341E copy

Bitcoin

3ATGMxNzCUFzxpMCHL5sWSt4DVtS8UqXpi copy

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us on Twitter!

Like this author's thread?

Get emails when @math_rachel has new unrolls!

Check out other threads from @math_rachel!

Read all threads by @math_rachel

:(