governance of technology and governance through technology
Github Username: jessicabwang
Computer Science, 2021
I’m taking the class, because I’m interested in the intersection of technology and government, which is an incredibly relevant topic of conversation nowadays.
Media Justification:
Flawed Algorithms Are Grading Millions of Students’ Essays
Media Justification: This article discusses how essay-scoring engines are subject to the human bias present in the AI training sets. Because the human graders often project their subconscious bias on the essays they grade, the AI scoring machines not only pick up the bias, but amplify it when they begin grading essays. This article complemented the other two articles on AI bias for the week (bias in sentencing and hiring) nicely, because they all emphasize the striking prevalence of AI bias nowadays. It seems as if we won’t be able to escape the bias without a creative solution, as mentioned in one of the other articles.
Antitrust Can’t Catch Big Tech
Media Justification: This opinion article by Andy Kessler discusses how big tech will always escape antitrust legislations. Kessler mentions how antitrust legislation is reactive, not proactive, meaning laws are created based on evidence of consumer harm. Therefore, even though the Justice Department and FTC may speculate the future of antitrust and big tech, they won’t be able to enact legislation that can break up big tech until there is evidence that it is harming users.
One Brother Stabbed the Other. The Journalist Who Wrote About It Paid a Price.
Media Justification: When I searched for articles regarding the right to be forgotten, nearly every news article in the past week focused on the European top court’s decision to not extend Google’s “right to be forgotten” law globally. I liked the incorporation of a quote from Google’s senior privacy counsel, Peter Fleischer, who discussed the need to strike a balance between user privacy and the people’s right to access information. In addition, I thought it was important how the article talked about the dangers of the right to be forgotten, especially if it begins affecting news reports and what is reported to the public.
[Andrew Yang’s plan to make your data yours has crypto written all over it] (https://decrypt.co/9900/andrew-yangs-plan-to-make-your-data-yours-has-crypto-written-all-over-it) [DATA AS A PROPERTY RIGHT] https://www.yang2020.com/policies/data-property-right/
Media Justification: Given that the articles this week focused on the issue of regarding data as property, I found this article incredibly relevant. The article discusses Andrew Yang’s bid for President and a central component of his campaign, which is his “Data as a Property Right” policy. If I hadn’t read any of the articles this week, I would’ve agreed with Yang’s policy. However, now that I am cognizant of the dangers of regarding data as property, I find many components of Yang’s policy flawed. His policy proposes an “opt-in” process of data-sharing and how users should get economic value for the data, which I find problematic given that data should not be considered as something you can own, but rather something you emit in small bits every day.
[Smart Cities Are Creating a Mass Surveillance Nightmare] (https://www.thedailybeast.com/smart-cities-are-creating-a-mass-surveillance-nightmare)
Media Justification: While the readings this week focused on forms of surveillance capitalism through digital spaces such as Google and Facebook, the article I chose investigates a physical chip that NYC mayor Bill de Blasio wants to embed into NYC IDs. The proposal for these chips represents a step towards an increasingly 1984-esque dystopian society, in which the government can track everyone’s activities and whereabouts. I find this deeply concerning, because while big tech companies like Google and Facebook use surveillance capitalism to drive profits, the government’s usage of these “smart city chips” appears to be a full-on invasion of privacy.
[Big Tech shattered in Glass Room art exhibit] (https://www.cnet.com/news/big-tech-shattered-in-glass-room-art-exhibit/) (https://theglassroom.org/san-francisco/exhibits)
Media Justification: This week, I chose an article featuring The Glass Room in San Francisco, which currently features Black Mirror-esque exhibititions that shows the true cost of using “free technology”. The thought behind each exhibition is absolutely incredible. One exhibit, called “MegaPixels: Face Search”, is a custom-built facial recognition system that allows the viewer to see whether their face has been used by big companies such as Amazon, Facebook, and Google to train their facial recognition systems. Other exhibits at The Glass Room include “Smell Dating”, which is an application that allows users to track their smell-compatibility with potential dates through a database, and “Forgot Your Password?”, a series of books on display that contain the 4.6 million passwords from the 2012 LinkedIn hack.
[Benefits system automation could plunge claimants deeper into poverty] (https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/oct/14/fears-rise-in-benefits-system-automation-could-plunge-claimants-deeper-into-poverty)
Media Justification: The article I selected investigates how the UK is implementing welfare automation robots, very similar to the situation in Indiana. In both pieces, the “bot billionaire” is adamant that machines can automate processes, increase productivity and efficiency in the welfare system, and improve the distribution of benefits fairly. However, the reality of welfare automation is that too many people are being left behind because of the particularities of the online systems. Shown through the reading for this week and the article I chose, a claimant making the slightest mistake could cost them and their families thousands of dollars in benefits.
[The Case for Internet Access as a Human Right] (https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/3kxmm5/the-case-for-internet-access-as-a-human-right)
Media Justification: I found it interesting how this article explores how access to the Internet has transformed into a basic human right, not a luxury. This goes to show how the Internet has evolved from not being a necessity to becoming an instrument that is closely tied to who we are as humans. I also noted how the article uses several words and phrases mentioning morality, arguing that it is a moral injustice to deny humans access to the Internet and its online resources. This article made me reflect on what it means to be a human in the digital age, and where we draw the line between our digital and physical selves.