
We hold people with power to account. Why not algorithms? - raleighm
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/sep/17/power-algorithms-technology-regulate
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dsamarin
Interestingly, the author has come around to the idea that the algorithms can
be trusted to act in an unbiased manner, even so far as to prefer a programmed
criminal judge: [https://youtu.be/lUqzVH1GjQo](https://youtu.be/lUqzVH1GjQo)

I'm sure this comes with the requirement for answers to questions given at the
end of the article:

“What power have you got? “Where did you get it from? “In whose interests do
you use it? “To whom are you accountable? “How do we get rid of you?” Because,
ultimately, we can’t just think of algorithms in isolation. We have to think
of the failings of the people who design them – and the danger to those they
are supposedly designed to serve.

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AnnoyingSwede
DO we hold people in power accountable? To me it seems the higher up we are
the less actual responsability they are being held to.

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vixen99
Tony Benn's questions are a handy reminder of what to ask of those in power.

“What power have you got? “Where did you get it from? “In whose interests do
you use it? “To whom are you accountable? “How do we get rid of you?”

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kwhitefoot
Why don't we just hold the people who create the products accountable just as
we do for any other product?

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colejohnson66
Sometimes it’s not the programmer’s fault, but they’ll always be scapegoated

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justtopost
When does that distinction end? Writing code for targeting? The code for
mixing gas chamber chamicals? At what point do you stand up and accept you are
doing evil, and take corrective action?

Sure, working for Boeing or Google doesn't make you evil. But where is the
line when you are asked to do something, perhaps trivial, to advance a project
that denies humans rights, or life? When do you take your spine and walk?

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syn0byte
No one is writing obviously evil code. They are just writing "chemical
mixing", "pattern recognition", "statistical analytics" algorithms.

There is no good or evil but thinking makes it so...

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3riverdev
Since when do people with power get held accountable?

