hi.

i’m rumman and I do

artificial intelligence
and ethics.
artificial intelligence
is…
why does technology
need ethics?
HOW MIGHT • Selection or sampling bias: Is your data
representative of the population the model will be

BIAS CREEP DATA BIAS used on?

IN?
• Measurement bias: Both measurement
instrument and operationalization can be faulty.

EXPERIMENT
AL BIAS RESPONSE
• How is the data being picked up, and might that
introduce bias?

INTRODUCED /REPORTING
BIAS
• Is the data sensitive in nature; is there reason to

BY DESIGN
misrepresent the truth? Will people have the
same metrics of reporting (e.g., yelp effect)?

OR BY DATA
• What assumptions are you making about your
DESIGN BIAS model and its applicability to the question?
• Are you engineering a feedback loop?
 HOW MIGHT BIAS CREEP IN?
SOCIETAL BIAS
Data is not an objective truth.
It is reflective of pre-existing institutional, cultural, and social biases.

LOSS OF OPPORTUNITY ECONOMIC LOSS SOCIAL DETRIMENT LOSS OF LIBERTY

Does our system create different access Does our system create different Does our system create filter bubbles, Does our system balance the concerns
outcomes for different groups relating to access outcomes for different groups reinforce stereotypes or create around surveillance, human rights, free
jobs, insurance, benefits, housing and relating to credit, goods and services confirmation bias? speech, etc. in a way that reflects our
education? or narrowing of choice in general? values?
Are there reasonable alternatives that
have less of a disparate impact on those
groups?
algorithmic
determinism:
from primary to secondary
harms
what is a secondary
harm?
(over) 10
years in
the filter
bubble
 “a male customer in
his early 20s” would
be offered “a set
meal of crispy
chicken hamburger,
roasted chicken
wings and coke”,
while “a female
customer in her 50s”
would get a
recommendation of
“porridge and
soybean milk for
breakfast”
- Baidu press
release*

*https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/jan/11/china-
beijing-first-smart-restaurant-kfc-facial-recognition
Can facial
recognition
technology really
identify – based on
expressions and
movements – who
might ‘evolve’ into a
school shooter?

What do we mean
when we say
‘problem children’?

10
algorithmic
determinism
= measurement bias + feedback loop
measurement bias –
what you think you are
measuring is not what
you are actually
measuring
feedback loop –
structure that causes
output to eventually
influence it’s own input
moral outsourcing
HANNAH ARENDT

THE BANALITY
OF EVIL
…the computer scientist who was presenting the
work, responded that he couldn’t be sure how the
new tool would be used. “I’m just an engineer,” he
said.
MORAL OUTSOURCING
<ˈmôrəl ˈoutˌsôrs iNG>

The anthropomorphizing of AI to shift

the blame of negative consequences
from humans to the algorithm

19
WHAT’S THE PROBLEM
WITH MORAL OUTSOURCING?
thank you.
dr. rumman chowdhury
@ruchowdh
www.rummanchowdhury.com