How to Watch Them Watching You
Researching Social Media, Online Platforms, and Algorithmic Systems From the Outside
Friday, September 29, 2017
University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, MI USA
Visit the full event page for more details
A public roundtable discussion. Online streaming video available with live questions taken from Twitter (#algoaudit) and the BKC Live Question Tool.
Panelists:
- Eric Gilbert, University of Michigan
- Cedric Langbort, University of Illinois
- Jeff Larson, ProPublica
- Casey Pierce, University of Michigan
- Christo Wilson, Northeastern University
The equations of big-data algorithms have permeated almost every aspect of our lives. A massive industry has grown up to comb and combine huge data sets — documenting, for example, Internet habits — to generate profiles of individuals. These often target advertising, but also inform decisions on credit, insurance and more. They help to control the news or adverts we see, and whether we get hired or fired. They can determine whether surveillance and law-enforcement agencies flag us as likely activists or dissidents — or potential security or criminal threats….Largely absent from the widespread use of such algorithms are the rules and safeguards that govern almost every other aspect of life in a democracy. There is an asymmetry in algorithmic power and accountability…Fortunately, a strong movement for greater algorithmic accountability is now under way. Researchers hope to find ways to audit for bias….Society needs to discuss in earnest how to rid software and machines of human bugs.
–Unsigned Editorial, Nature (2016)
[We] need to create a new field around the social algorithm, which examines the interplay of social and computational code.
–David Lazer, Op-Ed, Science (2015)