Perhpas more at âHow the mis-use of Big Data threatens democracyâ ? [Iâm complaining about the title of a book, not the title of the post that replicates the title of the book.]
Unless we accept that the phrase âBig Dataâ only applies to the poor application of algorithms to large datasets.
Because railing against the application of algorithms to datasets is like railing against the power-loom.
I heard a similar analysis on cbc radio last month:
I had always heard an algorithm was the spacing of a Tennessee Senatorâs children.
(Thanks, Iâm here all week, try the veal and be sure to tip your waitstaff.)
Isnât this what is happening in China with their âsocial creditâ system? The nutty thing is that it seems like the citizens are into it. Gotta say, first dates will be super streamlined if all you need to do is tell each other your numbers⌠in bed.
Thought Iâd chime in with my first post because I feel the need to agree. Although Iâm a little concerned with both of the titles (I know the post is emulating the same titular form).
I wonder if the author would consider re-naming the post âHow Big Data can threaten democracyâ. There are plenty of Big Data initiatives, some that are civic-minded, that do not meet Cathy OâNeilâs 5 categories. And not all Big Data meets those categories either.
I find this talk echoes the spirit of John Oliverâs âif you want to do something evil, put it inside something boringâ.
Are you trying to battle a manufactred outrage with facts and common sense?
Manufactured, but not out of thin air. If a competently developed and implemented algorithm institutionalizes prejudice and safeguards the interests of the strong at the expense of the weak⌠more or less invisibly⌠does that sound like a good thing?
Does that sound competently developed and implemented?
Your definitions of competence and implement must differ from mine.
Unfortunately, yes. Algorithms that assess, say, your âcreditworthinessâ arenât designed to make your life easier or fairer. Theyâre designed to minimize risk for your lender(s). That is the only âcompetenceâ required of these devices. An unintended consequence of routine use of such algorithms is a Kafkaesque society. A society where those who are born into less well-ordered, âpoliteâ families are systematically shut out of opportunity from day one.
During the past year, my UK bank has paid me over ÂŁ 150 in compensation, because their idiotic algorithm has at random declined my credit card at time critical moments, causing us endless work and frustration.
In one particular stupid instance, I had the audacity to try to make a payment of ÂŁ 749 to the UK Home Office. The payment was the fee for my daughterâs naturalisation as a British Citizen. The ingenious algorithm declined it, because I hadnât made any similar previous payments to the Home Office.
To make this farce of a security theatre even more amusing: We bank with the very same bank as the Home Office thus they could have easily checked the legitimacy of the recipient as well as the sum. Also in the case of the Home Office / Nationality Service, common sense would suggest, that similar multiple payments rather than a single payment should raise the alarms as normal, law abiding citizens seldom need more than one identity / naturalisations papers.
A few months later I had the audacity to think that I am particularly bright, and tried to alert the bank in advance regarding a similar payment. Except that the system is not set up to process such information, so even if I call in advance and say I am intending to pay x amount to the UK Home Office, no one in that vast bank can tell the algorithm to adjust itself to my reality. It just runs its course and throws out the payment. Then I call up, complain, then some poor sod tries to sort it out, sends me ÂŁ 50 and we are non the wiser.
Idiotic algorithms are idiotic, and they are increasingly running our lives, creating kafkaesque feedback loops of institutionalised insanity.
Iâm pretty sure that algorithms arenât racist. The people who create and supply them with data on the other handâŚ
Yup. My bank nixed my debit card because of a âpattern of regular paymentsâ. It was the phone bill.
(ETA: They DIDNT nix it when someone fraudulently debited my account from some shady business registered in the fucking Cayman Islands Oh, no. That charge was clearly legit. Totally)
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