AI and the Algorithmic Oppression
This is far bigger than the “benign” ad tailoring that occurs, this is curating our lives…
This is the technological human-learned systems that mimics the good, bad, and indifferent of our society. And within these systems are “errors” that are deeply ingrained and creates a civil struggle beyond a physical basis, a struggle that is transmuted digitally. Think about it like this, a computer system judges you to every extent. Primarily based on your choices then further decides what’s for you, a curated world with your name on it (yippee! right?).On the contrary, this curation can be quite dangerous as we reside in a era underscored by the consumption of mass media. What we consume is the culmination of a set of systematic biases, specifically based off of computer generated and documented choices.
Seeing as technology stands at the forefront of all personal happenings and interactions. These encoded biases are detrimental as it’s embedded into the media we consume, from the news you receive to the people you come across, it’s all eerily predetermined.
Now the algorithm didn’t just spawn on it’s own, it was curated by its founders. A group of people, all white males, who would presumably have their own ingrained unconscious (or conscious) biases. Social biases on race,gender, sexuality, ethnicity were all selected and plugged in as data for the computer systems to train from. But as generations became further and fully immersed into a digital world — with social media at our disposal and the advancements of technology, we have unconsciously become the data pluggers.
For something so inanimate but powerfully omnipresent as AI and its algorithms the question to come is who is in control? The data or the human. Seemingly AI seems to be in the front seat and going at federal speeds. How can we circumvent the drawbacks of these systems if we have no control? Nation leaders have become aware of this problem and are trying to find ways to regulate it, but is it already too late?
One may further ask, in what real way does this affect me? To which I would say, in every way. Everything is being altered to fit into the context of all things digital, Journalism is one of these things. As the curation of news has moved to a place less tangible, though far more broad, access has extended but the distribution/delivery of it has faltered.
Through the algorithmic insertion of biases, news that may be deemed paramount may not reach someone because an AI system has made a choice for them. It likely already has made a decision(in times past or currently) to leave something undisclosed,perhaps because you’re too liberal or a person of color, disabled or apart of the LGBTQ+ community. Affiliation may control your perimeters even if you did not explicitly set them in place. For groups that are already marginalized this could leave them void of the necessary answers, and for others it may keep them in a filter bubble.
Some organizations like the ‘Society of Professional Journalists’ have taken a stances on bias-based algorithms that have infiltrated the digital atmosphere. asking the tough the questions like, “When biases are spotted, what is being done to fix the problems? And was it even necessary to rely on artificial intelligence instead of humans in the first place?” Under there organization they have pledged to be transparent and fair even through the biased algorithms further stating, “In the 21st century, this includes reporting on the ways the government uses artificial intelligence and whether those outcomes are fair, equitable and just.”
While others have chosen to lean in and use AI’s and algorithms to their advantage. This ‘New York Times’ article highlighted the possibility of AI journalism introduced by Bloomberg news to churn out news at “accurate and untiring” rates. Bloomberg News enforced that they're use of AI is only for the tedious aspects of business journalism that can be particularly excruciating, like dissecting a financial report then producing the story. But it’s a definite worry that enabling journalism void of the human touch can welcome a whole new list of challenges.
— Some have even begun to come up with ways to ward off coded bias in these systems, so that you are less vulnerable to the seemingly uncontrollable.
These algorithms loom in every facet of our lives. the choices we’ve made digitally days, months,or even years ago have cultivated a lawless environment. And as the future becomes our now, we must find ways to give algorithms a purposeful nudge in the right direction. A way to make sure no one is discounted or oppressed, as exemplified in the finding above, on the basis of race, gender, etc. We must get to a place where technology doesn't feel like an impeding threat to humanity but a meaningful addition.
