Why are we drawn to technology to tackle complex human issues?Why does it keep happening?David Lovell3 July 2020
NB: I have contacted the
authors for comment
Source: https://callingbullshit.org/case_studies/case_study_criminal_machine_learning.html
Why are we drawn to technologyto tackle complex human issues?
Be mindful of:systems that encourage a narrow world-view
• Research systems encourage us to develop deep disciplinary knowledge
• This has its risks…• Especially when specific knowledge has potential application outside its
discipline
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/16/technology/rabbit-hole-podcast-kevin-roose.html
…
Consider:Our limitations as thinkers• …and our capacity for critical thinking
Steven Pinker:
• The main cause of incomprehensible proseis the difficulty of imagining what it’s like for someone elsenot to knowsomething that you know
• The main cause of our incomprehension of othersis the difficulty of imagining how someone elsecan rationally see thingsdifferently to us
Acknowledgements
• This has been brief, incomplete and imperfect• I acknowledge my ignorance• I gratefully acknowledge my colleagues in the Data Focused Decision
Making program, especially• Kellie Vella, Dimitri Perrin, Margot Brereton, Andrew Gibson,
Catarina Pinto Moreira, Feras Dayoub
• I appreciate the Centre for Data Science, the Carumba Institute and the Queensland Academy for Arts and Sciences for hosting this
• I welcome your input: [email protected]
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