Algorithmic Bias: CPD or Cute Puppy Delta
September 20, 2016
With the publication of “Weapons of Math Destruction,” algorithmic bias identification has become the new parlor game. I enjoyed the write up with the cute puppy title “For More Proof Algorithms Can Be Biased, Look No Further Than Cute Puppies.”
The main point of the write up struck me as:
If men preferred small dogs and women preferred large dogs, and the researchers used more data from men, then the algorithm would lean towards ranking smaller dogs cuter, because those dogs are better-known by the algorithm.
My immediate reaction is that this type of training set bias is commonplace.
More interesting are the following biases in algorithms:
- Selecting the numerical recipes to use for numerical alchemy
- Sequencing of the chains of numerical recipes
- Threshold settings for the numerical recipes
- Methods for automatic or semi automatic threshold adjustments.
There’s more to bias than meets the eyes of puppy lovers. That’s the CPD or cute puppy delta.
Stephen E Arnold, September 20, 2016
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