bias in algorithms

Just like most other units in this course, I didn’t know much about this topic before we discussed it.

I knew there was bias on the internet. I knew that ads are the internet are essentially tailored towards the one viewing them. Even ads and commercials on TV are! Depending on what channel you’re on, the commercials are different.

This quote from Cathy O’Neil’s Ted Talk really sums up the idea of bias in algorithms very well:

“Algorithms are opinions embedded in code. It’s really different from what you think most people think of algorithms. They think algorithms are objective and true and scientific. That’s a marketing trick. It’s also a marketing trick to intimidate you with algorithms, to make you trust and fear algorithms because you trust and fear mathematics. A lot can go wrong when we put blind faith in big data.”

A lot can go wrong when we put blind faith in anything. It’s always a good idea to look out, and ask why. Ask why things are the way they are.