Algorithmic Accountability Quotes

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.

We urgently need more due process with the algorithmic systems influencing our lives. If you are given a score that jeopardizes your ability to get a job, housing, or education, you should have the right to see that data, know how it was generated, and be able to correct errors and contest the decision.

I would argue that one of the major problems with our blind trust in algorithms is that we can propagate discriminatory patterns without acknowledging any kind of intent.

There are lots of different ways that algorithms can go wrong, and what we have now is a system in which we assume because it's shiny new technology with a mathematical aura that it's perfect and it doesn't require further vetting. Of course, we never have that assumption with other kinds of technology.

The amount of money and industrial energy that has been put into accelerating AI code has meant that there hasn't been as much energy put into thinking about social, economic, ethical frameworks for these systems. We think there's a very urgent need for this to happen faster.

My fantasy is that there is a new regulatory body that is in charge of algorithmic auditing.

We should have equivalent due-process protections for algorithmic decisions as for human decisions.

This is a political fight. We need to demand accountability for our algorithmic overlords.

The most important goal I had in mind was to convince people to stop blindly trusting algorithms and assuming that they are inherently fair and objective.