Algorithms and Your Data
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Video credit: The Coded Gaze: Unmasking Algorithmic Bias – posted by Joy Buolamwini on YouTube
Think
- What is an algorithm?
- Frankly, it sounds very complicated and I have no idea.
- They are rules that help computers work.
- They are used in many technologies like computer software to help automate the decision-making process.
- When do you encounter algorithms?
- Wait, I encounter algorithms?
- I know they’re used in advertising online.
- They’re all over the place, both online and in the outside world too.
- How do algorithms affect the information you access?
- They shouldn’t affect anything, right? Don’t they just make websites run correctly?
- They use my data to do things like show me interesting ads or social media posts that I’m likely to click on.
- They affect a lot of the content and information that I see, even my Google searches.
- Can algorithms be biased?
- Uh, no? Aren’t they just math?
- I guess it’s technically a “bias” to use your data for greater personalization, but it’s harmless, right?
- Yes, and this can have some serious consequences.
- When do you think algorithms should be used?
- Never! If they’re biased, we should ban them outright.
- I mean, there’s so much information to go through these days. Surely, it’s not bad to use them in things like initial job screenings, right?
- They are probably okay in low-stakes cases, but we should treat them with caution.
Explore
When you hear terms like “algorithm,” “machine learning,” and “artificial intelligence (AI),” they might seem intimidating and complicated. And while yes, the mathematics behind them can be rather complex, it is easiest to just think of algorithms as “the set of rules a machine (and especially a computer) follows to achieve a particular goal,” of which artificial intelligence are the result (Merriam Webster).
Algorithms exist all around us, both on the internet and in the physical world too. They have a huge variety of uses, from gathering your data in order to populate your social media feed with posts that the algorithm thinks you will likely click on to more external uses such as facial recognition software for tasks like unlocking your phone.
While algorithms do make the world around us faster and more convenient, it’s important to remember that they – like all technology – are not just neutral sets of numbers working away in the background with no agenda. Algorithms might be rules, but they are rules created by people, each of whom has their own biases that get written into the programming that they create. These biases are not always intentional, but they can have a huge effect on the type of information that we access. And when algorithms are used to make complicated, human-based decisions such as job suitability or prison sentencing, the biases inherent in algorithmic programming can have the serious result of perpetuating existing inequalities.
Popping the Filter Bubble
One important use of algorithms online is to t