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How Can We Stop Algorithms From Lying?

posted by Fnord666 on Monday July 17 2017, @03:27PM   Printer-friendly
from the swear-on-a-stack-of-K&Rs dept.

canopic jug writes:

At The Guardian, Cathy O'Neil writes about why algorithms can be wrong. She classifies the reasons into four categories on a spectrum ranging from unintential errors to outright malfeasance. As algorithms now make a large portion of the decisions affecting our lives, scrutiny is ever more important and she provides multiple examples in each category of their impact.

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  • (Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 17 2017, @04:55PM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 17 2017, @04:55PM (#540394)

    That algorithm doesn't lie. It is not its fault that you interpret the string it dutifully outputs as saying that one equals two. It didn't intend to lead you to that interpretation. It has no concept of humans interpreting its output. And it has no intentions whatsoever.

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 17 2017, @05:42PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 17 2017, @05:42PM (#540425)

    Now explain that to idiots who write articles like this one, PHBs, and CxOs.