Auditing Algorithms: The Impossible Dream
August 8, 2016
Remember this lyric:
To dream the impossible dream
To fight the unbeatable foe
To bear with unbearable sorrow
And to run where
the brave dare not go
Yep, killing windmills.
I read “Make Algorithms Accountable.” You may find it online at this link. No promises because the source is a “real journalist’s dream,” the New York Times.
The main point of the write up is to express an impossible dream. Those who craft numerical recipes have to have their algorithms audited. Not the algorithm assembler, mind you, the algorithm itself.
I noted this passage:
…advocates for big data due process argue that much more must be done to assure the appropriateness and accuracy of algorithm results. An algorithm is a procedure or set of instructions often used by a computer to solve a problem. Many algorithms are secret.
A conundrum not as difficult as solving death, but a kissing cousin as some in Harrod’s Creek say.
Are algorithms biased? Do squirrels get shot in Harrod’s Creek? In case you are wondering, the answer is yes. The recipe is not the problem. There are cooks in the mix.
I can hear this now:
This is my quest
To follow that star
No matter how hopeless
No matter how far
To fight for the right
Without question or pause
To be willing to march,
march into hell
For that heavenly cause
Stephen E Arnold, August 8, 2016
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Auditing Algorithms: The Impossible Dream : Stephen E. Arnold @ Beyond Search