Hi list I've really liked the discussion/posts on neutrality of algorithms. In respond to the technical question, I suggest that it is also important to look a little broader. The recent focus on 'algorithms' as a named topic is preceded by previous discussion the affordances of computer programming. See for example the early work by Weizenbaum (1976), Computer power and human reason. Rather than capture the affordances of specific algorithms, I tried to capture the affordances in programming in Henman (1995) 'The role of computers in texturing micro-social environments' Journal of Sociology/Australian and New Zealand Journal of sociology, and Kent (1978) Data and reality, captured aspects of how databases structure the world in their constructing of database items and categories, a topic that remains pertinent to this day. Those observations also relate nicely to the work on sociology of standards and categories (see Bowker and Starr, Soring things out; Busch, standards). Another key point made by Weizenbaum, which I reiterated in Henman (2002) "Computer modeling and the politics of greenhouse gas policy in Australia." Social science computer review, is that computer code, models and algorithms are very much a black box, and as such embed hard to contest operations of power. These observations can also be broadened to literature on the politics of technologies - see Langdon Winner's work, and particularly his classic, Do artefacts have politics. Hope this is helpful. Paul Paul Henman Associate Professor of Social Policy and Sociology Head of Sociology Program Director, BSocSci School of Social Science University of Queensland QLD 4072 T: +61 7 3365 2765 | E: P.Henman@uq.edu.au | W: www.digitalsocialpolicy.com -----Original Message----- From: Air-L [mailto:air-l-bounces@listserv.aoir.org] On Behalf Of Jat Singh Sent: Friday, 3 June 2016 10:32 PM Cc: air-l@listserv.aoir.org Subject: Re: [Air-L] agency / neutrality of algorithms Has anyone come across any papers that dive into the tech details of the algorithms themselves, particularly for machine learning, in this context? There’s a great one by Jenna Burrell: “How the machine ‘thinks’, Understanding opacity in machine learning algorithms”, but wondering if there are others? Thanks!! On 1 June 2016 at 12:17, Andrew Herman <aherman@wlu.ca> wrote:
Alex
This is awesome! Thanks so much for putting together. ________________________________________ From: Air-L <air-l-bounces@listserv.aoir.org> on behalf of Alex Gekker <gekker.alex@gmail.com> Sent: Wednesday, June 1, 2016 4:48 AM To: air-l@listserv.aoir.org Subject: Re: [Air-L] agency / neutrality of algorithms
Hi everyone,
The response has been amazing, thank you all for your wonderful suggestions on and off list. And sorry if I missed someone in responding personally. I took the liberty of putting together a public Google Doc with all the suggestions. I tried to keep it short but provide context where original authors supplied few lines of elaboration. The list is freely editable, so if you feel there's something missing or would rather not have your suggestions there - please edit it or email me and I'll do it.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1OaAnpaLaOQs0YgUaPZ0lEThy0EI9_Rrjtr qdQYBYHMs/edit?usp=sharing
regards, Alex.
On Wed, Jun 1, 2016 at 12:51 AM Malte Ziewitz <mziewitz@gmail.com> wrote:
Alex, if you are specifically interested in the research strategy of 'ethicizing' analytic objects, the following exchange might be a good starting point:
Kraemer, Felicitas, Kees Overveld, and Martin Peterson. 2010. “Is There an Ethics of Algorithms?” Ethics and Information Technology 13 (3): 251–60. doi:10.1007/s10676-010-9233-7.
Anderson, Robert J., and Wesley W. Sharrock. 2013. “Ethical Algorithms: A Brief Comment on an Extensive Muddle.”,
http://www.sharrockandanderson.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Ethic al-Algorithms.pdf
Taken together, the two articles highlight some of the (fascinating) issues that arise from adding epithets like 'ethical,' 'neutral,' 'moral', etc. to computational phenomena.
All best, Malte
On Tue, May 31, 2016 at 6:23 PM, Josh Scannell <joshua.scannell@gmail.com> wrote:
I'm a lurker on this listserv but I would like to second this list. It is invaluable.
On Monday, May 30, 2016, Tarleton L. Gillespie <tlg28@cornell.edu> wrote:
I'd like to recommend this:
https://socialmediacollective.org/reading-lists/critical-algorithm-st udies/
Nick Seaver and I had been trying to keep tabs on this scholarship.
Many
of the pieces on this list, especially in sections 0.2, 1.1, and 1.2.
Tarleton
sent from my iphone, sorry for my fat fingers.
On May 30, 2016, at 4:09 PM, Elizabeth Anne Watkins < writetowatkins@gmail.com <javascript:;>> wrote:
The Yale Information Society Project recently held a spectacular conference on Algorithmic Accountability, which may be of interest:
On Mon, May 30, 2016 at 3:36 PM, Alex Gekker <gekker.alex@gmail.com <javascript:;>> wrote:
Hi list,
I've been running into a lot of writing criticising the notion of "algorithms are neutral" recently, but yet to find a scholarly work that tackles the subject yet. Any recommendations?
Here are some examples for the types of arguments I'm interested in:
http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2016/04/go-tweak-yourse lf-facebook/480258/
https://socialmediacollective.org/2016/05/18/facebook-trends/
thanks, Alex.
=======
Alex Gekker, PhD Candidate (Promovendus), Media and Culture, Utrecht University. Charting the Digital http://www.digitalcartography.eu/ http://alexgekker.com a.gekker@uu.nl <javascript:;> <//a.gekker@uu.nl <javascript:;>> | _______________________________________________ The Air-L@listserv.aoir.org <javascript:;> mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
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