We hold people with power to account. Why not algorithms? | Hacker News Reader

We hold people with power to account. Why not algorithms?

theguardian.com

22 pointsraleighm9 comments

Interestingly, the author has come around to the idea that the algorithms can be trusted to act in an unbiased manner, even so far as to prefer a programmed criminal judge: https://youtu.be/lUqzVH1GjQo

I'm sure this comes with the requirement for answers to questions given at the end of the article:

“What power have you got? “Where did you get it from? “In whose interests do you use it? “To whom are you accountable? “How do we get rid of you?” Because, ultimately, we can’t just think of algorithms in isolation. We have to think of the failings of the people who design them – and the danger to those they are supposedly designed to serve.

DO we hold people in power accountable? To me it seems the higher up we are the less actual responsability they are being held to.

Tony Benn's questions are a handy reminder of what to ask of those in power.

“What power have you got? “Where did you get it from? “In whose interests do you use it? “To whom are you accountable? “How do we get rid of you?”

Why don't we just hold the people who create the products accountable just as we do for any other product?

Sometimes it’s not the programmer’s fault, but they’ll always be scapegoated

When does that distinction end? Writing code for targeting? The code for mixing gas chamber chamicals? At what point do you stand up and accept you are doing evil, and take corrective action?

Sure, working for Boeing or Google doesn't make you evil. But where is the line when you are asked to do something, perhaps trivial, to advance a project that denies humans rights, or life? When do you take your spine and walk?

No one is writing obviously evil code. They are just writing "chemical mixing", "pattern recognition", "statistical analytics" algorithms.

There is no good or evil but thinking makes it so...

Who mentioned programmers? "People who create the algorithm" includes the engineering manager, product designer, marketing department, mapping service providers in the case of satnav, various other subject matter consultants, etc., not just the programmers. In fact the programmers who implement the algorithm often have no say in the behaviour of that algorithm

Since when do people with power get held accountable?

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