Technology is an exciting field and has proved its helpfulness time and time again. I remember going through my computer science studies, soaking in all the intricacies and dedication each task required to create just a standard program. Cutting-edge innovations are enthralling to say the least, but the more we develop these machines, the more they cross into the muddled world of human affairs.
The potential pitfalls of giving software increased decision-making power is beautifully examined in a recent TED Talk, “Machine intelligence makes human morals more important,” by Zeynep Tufekci.
A downside is a program’s ability to predict the likelihood of future behaviors and conditions. Tufekci uses the example of a certain computational system predicting an individual’s likeliness of developing clinical or postpartum depression based on social media data. This tool could prove beneficial in a medical sense, but what about in the context of hiring?
“Look, such a system may even be less biased than human managers in some ways. And it could make monetary sense. But it could also lead to a steady but stealthy shutting out of the job market of people with higher risk of depression. Is this the kind of society we want to build, without even knowing we’ve done this, because we turned decision-making to machines we don’t totally understand?” Tufekci explains.
Intricate systems are often fueled by human-generated data. We’re not neutral beings, and these machines may reflect and amplify our own biased views. In a world exempt from perfection, pitfalls within the source code itself also have the potential to skew results. Data sustaining a human imprint and machine-unique errors complicate the role of technology in decision-based situations, such as courtroom analysis and corporate judgement. Without examination, decision-making computations could form an illusion of objectivity and neutrality.
Tufekci concludes her talk with this powerful message: “Yes, we can and we should use computation to help us make better decisions. But we have to own up to our moral responsibility to judgement and use algorithms within that framework, not as a means to abdicate and outsource our responsibilities to one another as human-to-human. Machine intelligence is here. That means we must hold on ever tighter to human values and human ethics.”
Watch Zeynep Tufekci’s full in-depth discussion on the balance between machines and humanity in the TED Talk below.