The amount of money and industrial energy that has been put into accelerating AI code has meant that there hasn't been as much energy put into thinking about social, economic, ethical frameworks for these systems. We think there's a very urgent need for this to happen faster.

Kate Crawford

Categorized in : Think AI Thinking Money

We need a sweeping debate about ethics, boundaries, and regulation for location data technologies.

Kate Crawford

need debate ethics data

With big data comes big responsibilities.

Kate Crawford

responsibilities big data

Books about technology start-ups have a pattern. First, there's the grand vision of the founders, then the heroic journey of producing new worlds from all-night coding and caffeine abuse, and finally, the grand finale: immense wealth and secular sainthood. Let's call it the Jobs Narrative.

Kate Crawford

new vision technology journey

Like all technologies before it, artificial intelligence will reflect the values of its creators. So inclusivity matters - from who designs it to who sits on the company boards and which ethical perspectives are included.

Kate Crawford

will like company intelligence

Biases and blind spots exist in big data as much as they do in individual perceptions and experiences. Yet there is a problematic belief that bigger data is always better data and that correlation is as good as causation.

Kate Crawford

better good data blind

If you're not thinking about the way systemic bias can be propagated through the criminal justice system or predictive policing, then it's very likely that, if you're designing a system based on historical data, you're going to be perpetuating those biases.

Kate Crawford

you justice way thinking

Data and data sets are not objective; they are creations of human design. We give numbers their voice, draw inferences from them, and define their meaning through our interpretations.

Kate Crawford

meaning design voice numbers

We urgently need more due process with the algorithmic systems influencing our lives. If you are given a score that jeopardizes your ability to get a job, housing, or education, you should have the right to see that data, know how it was generated, and be able to correct errors and contest the decision.

Kate Crawford

job you decision education

Numbers can't speak for themselves, and data sets - no matter their scale - are still objects of human design.

Kate Crawford

design speak matter numbers

Data will always bear the marks of its history. That is human history held in those data sets.

Kate Crawford

will always data history

If you have rooms that are very homogeneous, that have all had the same life experiences and educational backgrounds, and they're all relatively wealthy, their perspective on the world is going to mirror what they already know. That can be dangerous when we're making systems that will affect so many diverse populations.

Kate Crawford

mirror you perspective life

We should have equivalent due-process protections for algorithmic decisions as for human decisions.

Kate Crawford

equivalent decisions human should

There is no quick technical fix for a social problem.

Kate Crawford

technical fix problem social

Big data sets are never complete.

Kate Crawford

complete big never data

Vivametrica isn't the only company vying for control of the fitness data space. There is considerable power in becoming the default standard-setter for health metrics. Any company that becomes the go-to data analysis group for brands like Fitbit and Jawbone stands to make a lot of money.

Kate Crawford

health money power fitness

Self-tracking using a wearable device can be fascinating.

Kate Crawford

device using fascinating

Rather than assuming Terms of Service are equivalent to informed consent, platforms should offer opt-in settings where users can choose to join experimental panels. If they don't opt in, they aren't forced to participate.

Kate Crawford

forced choose where service

It is a failure of imagination and methodology to claim that it is necessary to experiment on millions of people without their consent in order to produce good data science.

Kate Crawford

good failure science people

Surveillant anxiety is always a conjoined twin: The anxiety of those surveilled is deeply connected to the anxiety of the surveillers. But the anxiety of the surveillers is generally hard to see; it's hidden in classified documents and delivered in highly coded languages in front of Senate committees.

Kate Crawford

hidden see always anxiety

Big Data is neither color-blind nor gender-blind. We can see how it is used in marketing to segment people.

Kate Crawford

big see data people