Quote:
Originally Posted by taxwonk
I call bullshit. They intend nothing more than to make money. Fine, the way you make money is by not lending it to schwarzes, hiring schwarzes, or dating schwarzes.
But they aren't being racist. It's just business, Mikey. Nothing personal.
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I'm not excusing it. I'm noting that big data is going to: (1) enable a lot more of it, both intentionally and unintentionally; and, (3) provide an alibi for it.
Corporations are the greatest tools ever invented for avoidance of personal responsibility. We are handing them enormous data pools with which to commoditize human beings. When they judge the books by the covers because that's the easiest and most efficient way to maximize profit and minimize risk, and we call them on it, this will be what you hear in the Congressional hearings:
"I did not design the algorithm... That was by committee, and involved many tech people no longer with us. A number of outside consultants, as well. There's no way to know who exactly designed the code at issue. And the algorithm we're discussing-- And keep in mind, I'm not a coder or anything-- actually, quite a Luddite in that regard... I believe that code actually teaches itself. So the prohibited criteria it used, I think, if I understand the tech people correctly, was selected by the algorithm itself. With no human involvement, or foresight that might occur.
But we have enacted best practices to avoid this in the future. Our new coders assure us this exact use of this exact prohibited criteria can be avoided. Some others may be used by these learning algorithms in the future, as it's impossible to preclude them all. But this one? This exact discriminatory basis? We have that one eliminated. And we are committed to vigilant removal of others as they appear."
Of course, no purchased Senator or Congressman will mention that the categories of criteria that may be used to effect discriminatory ends are innumerable.
Only the silliest tech evangelist would believe big data is going to remove or reduce discrimination. It's a delusion as preposterous as the belief the 2008 Crash would result in true upending of social order, as it should have, rather a stronger retrenchment in which the rich and powerful before the Crash became even more rich and powerful afterward.
We are Engineered. The question isn't whether the status quo persists, but how fast it accelerates our splintering into ever more deeply class divided mini societies. To be a bear, to hope for some form of justice, or revolution, or true and deserved free market correction, is to be insane.
