Eliminating bias from algorithms
Just saw part of a panel discussion about uses of AI. Not that the idea under consideration was "bad" in some way; au contraire, it was well intentioned. But is exposed a fundamental problem in Silicon Valley. At issue was a bar chart which was quite comprehensive, showing a comparison of on-air talking time, men vs women, on television. Aha, said a Democratic woman on the panel, this shows anti-female bias that needs to be corrected. And the sooner the better. After all, there is only one possible way to interpret the data. And isn't AI wonderful that it can show us how true Left-wing views are so that we can enforce codes of gender equality on the TV networks? A Lefty would see only one way to interpret that data and maybe a Rightist would see it another way, perhaps to suggest that the media can be excused because its practices reflect old traditions, so let's go slow in compelling reforms even if, eventually, we get to a gender neutral outcome. But what if you re freed from L vs R ways of thinking? Then both the Left and the Right have missed the point entirely. It is no coincidence that both L & R hate and despise sociobiology. In one case sociobiology makes a mockery of the idea, which is popular on the Left, that we are just about infinitely elastic, we can become anything we want, and gender roles are completely malleable and basically arbitrary anyway. For the Right the big problem is that sociobiology presupposes evolution and draws a number of value judgements from the animal kingdom to our predicament as human beings. This is unacceptable to conservatives as well as libertarians since, you see, sociobiolgy says that, indeed, there are such things as good and bad in nature and that, therefore, there is an innate morality we need to observe. For a conservative this is utterly taboo since all morality comes from God. It is possible to think that both the L and the R are full of c**p and not worth listening to. While it may be that there are gender biases at work in decision making in the media, I look at that chart and say to myself, "well, here's even more proof that the sexes are "wired" differently. Generally speaking, men are more assertive and -in any mixed gender context- speak more frequently and more forcefully. There are plenty of analogs to this among apes and even other mammal species. Uhhh, to judge from the TV show on C-Span, every company in Silicon Valley who employs people to write code for algorithms simply cannot edit-out biases because the code writers are unconsciously biased toward the Left. They have zero comprehension of the value of sociobiology and despise the Right reflexively as a matter of course. You might be able to say something similar, but criticizing the Right, if we were talking about a computer company in eastern Europe. The solution? Compulsory education in sociobiolgy starting in high school. As I just said, "both the L and the R are full of c**p," and the sooner we discredit both the Left and the Right, the better. My two cents worth. Billy Registered Independent voter -- -- Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community <[email protected]> Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/RadicalCentrism Radical Centrism website and blog: http://RadicalCentrism.org --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
