I also teach courses in ethical and philosophical issues in AI/computer science/technology. One of my key course topics is Bias in Data/Algorithms and Machine Learning Fairness: how AI could reproduce and reinforce gender and racial oppression. There's a lot of discussion going on about this topic, and I've found many good resources online! Here are some of the learning materials I use this semester:

Julia Angwin, Jeff Larson, Surya Mattu, and Lauren Kirchner (2016), Machine Bias, ProPublica

“There’s software used across the country to predict future criminals. And it’s biased against blacks.”
When An Algorithm Helps Send You to Prison, The New York Times, 2017

Joy Buolamwini (2016), How I’m Fighting Bias in Algorithms, TED talk

"MIT grad student Joy Buolamwini was working with facial analysis software when she noticed a problem: the software didn't detect her face -- because the people who coded the algorithm hadn't taught it to identify a broad range of skin tones and facial structures."
Gender Shades

Google Has a History of Bias Against Black Girls, Time, 2018

This is an excerpt from Safiya Umoja Noble's 2018 book Algorithms of Oppression: How Search Engines Reinforce Racism.

Cathy O'Neill (2017), The Era of Blind Faith in Big Data Must End, TED talk

“Algorithms decide who gets a loan, who gets a job interview, who gets insurance and much more -- but they don't automatically make things fair.”

...And other case discussions:

Machines Taught By Photos Learn a Sexist View of Women, Wired, 2017

“Algorithms showed a tendency to associate women with shopping and men with shooting.”

Supposedly ‘Fair’ Algorithms Can Perpetuate Bias, Wired, 2019

“How the use of AI runs the risk of re-creating the insurance industry's inequities of the previous century.”

Rise of the Racist Robots: How AI Is Learning All Our Worst Impulses, The Guardian, 2017

“When we feed machines data that reflects our prejudices, they mimic them.”

Amazon Scraps Secret AI Recruiting Tool that Shows Bias Against Women, Reuters, 2018

“Amazon.com Inc’s machine-learning specialists uncovered a big problem: their new recruiting engine did not like women.”

Best,

Youjin

On Wed, Apr 29, 2020 at 2:49 PM Eric Palmer <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

Hi Shay and all,
For political economy (big picture, applied philosophy):
Shoshana Zuboff book, In the age of the smart machine. (Or the swift read: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1057/jit.2015.5 , or a good pop digest version: https://www.faz.net/aktuell/feuilleton/debatten/the-digital-debate/shoshana-zuboff-secrets-of-surveillance-capitalism-14103616.html )

And, this is a political economy adjunct that is not philosophical, but it ties in out-of-control AI. It’s written in a shock journalism style, but it is really very different and as disturbing as the style suggests (to me, at least):
https://medium.com/@jamesbridle/something-is-wrong-on-the-internet-c39c471271d2
James Bridle repackaged this material into a book, The New Dark Enlightenment, which I haven’t seen.
Best
Eric

On Apr 29, 2020, at 4:45 PM, Amandine Catala <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

Hi Shay,

In case you haven’t come across this reference yet, there’s also the book Data Feminism, by Catherine D’Ignazio and Lauren Klein (MIT Press, 2020).

There’s currently an online reading group on the book with the two authors on Fridays at 12 pm EST, and all the recordings are available here: http://datafeminism.io/blog/book/data-feminism-reading-group/

Best wishes,
Amandine

Amandine Catala

Professeure agrégée
Chaire de recherche du Canada sur l’injustice et l’agentivité épistémiques
Département de philosophie
Université du Québec à Montréal
CP 8888, Succ. Centre-Ville
Montréal H3C 3P8, Québec, Canada
FR: https://crc-iae.com

Associate Professor
Canada Research Chair on Epistemic Injustice and Agency
Department of Philosophy
University of Quebec at Montreal
PO Box 8888, Downtown
Montreal H3C 3P8, Quebec, Canada
EN: https://crc-iae.com/?lang=en

On Wed, Apr 29, 2020 at 1:07 PM Shay Welch <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
Hi folks,
Like many of you, our school is putting together summer internships for the students since they don't have other options. They have tagged me to do one/I volunteered. I need to do it on Philosophy and Data Science. I was wondering if you had any reading recommendations. I definitely would be interested in the epistemology and ethical aspects.

--
All my best,
Shay Welch
Associate Professor of Philosophy
Spelman College

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Youjin Kong, Ph.D.
Visiting Assistant Professor, Philosophy
Oregon State University

[log in to unmask]

CV: http://www.youjinkong.com
Pronouns: she/her/hers