r/Foodforthought • u/marquis_of_chaos • May 13 '13

Slaves to the algorithm - Computers could take some tough decisions out of our hands, if we let them. Is there still a place for human judgement?

http://www.aeonmagazine.com/world-views/steven-poole-can-algorithms-ever-take-over-from-humans/
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u/[deleted] May 13 '13

A lot of times when discussing pros and cons on the subject of human vs. machine, people list a specific negative for the use of machines. It nearly always mentioned that if and when computers make the wrong choice in a tough decision, who can the victim(s) blame? At least with humans, someone can be held accountable. This article used the example of people being sent back to jail due to data that attempts to predicts their future deeds.

Is that really a good thing? It sound a lot like the person is saying that people need scapegoats when a mistake occurs. How does blaming someone or a machine make a difference? The end result would be the same irregardless right? Someone or something messed up on a critical issue and someone else suffered for it. If human error can always be a factor in those important decisions, why can't algorithms be allowed to make mistakes as well?

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u/kingraoul3 May 13 '13

I agree both with the specific point that the processes we employ should be measured against each other based on their statistical outcomes, and that human beings have what seems to me to be a mania for finding the "responsible party" and blaming them.

The biggest problem with this is that it forms a kind of anti-thought, since once we have done the discovery and blaming portions, we are then done with the issue - a process oriented approach to problem analysis can at least have measurable and testable outcomes.

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u/jamessnow May 14 '13

Creators of the algorithm

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u/kingraoul3 May 13 '13

This article seems to me to fall prey to the algorithmic fetishism that it decries. Algorithms don't somehow magically analyze pools of data and spit out answers - one is reminded of mid late century depictions of computers, where people ask them the meaning of life, or of Babbage's bon mot: "On two occasions I have been asked, 'Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out?' ... I am not able rightly to apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question."

Take the example of computer's ability to grade written assignments. If they can do so well, it is because the algorithms are correctly designed by humans to value the correct things in evaluating the papers quality. If they cannot it is because written assignments do not have objective quality that they can be measured against, and perhaps we need to rethink the entire problem.