Recent Literature About Artifical Intelligence & Algorithms
- Automating Inequality: How High-Tech Tools Profile, Police, and Punish the Poor
- Algorithms of Oppression: How Search Engines Reinforce Racism
- The Ethical Algorithm: The Science of Socially Aware Algorithm Design
- The Alignment Problem: Machine Learning and Human Values
- Power and Prediction: The Disruptive Economics of Artificial Intelligence
- Race After Technology: Abolitionist Tools for the New Jim Code
- Ethical Machines: Your Concise Guide to Totally Unbiased Transparent & Respectful AI
- The Ethical Algorithm: The Science of Socially Aware Algorithm Design
- The Shame Machine: Who Profits in the New Age of Humiliation
- AI Ethics (The MIT Press Essential Knowledge series)
- Futureproof: 9 Rules for Humans in the Age of Automation
- Artificial Unintelligence: How Computers Misunderstand the World
- Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men
- Weapons of Math Destruction: Big Data Increases Inequality & Threatens Democracy
- The Glass Cage: How Our Computers Are Changing Us
Automating Inequality: How High-Tech Tools Profile, Police, and Punish the Poor
In Automating Inequality, Virginia Eubanks systematically investigates the impacts of data mining, policy algorithms, and predictive risk models on poor and working-class people in America. The book is full of heart-wrenching and eye-opening stories, from a woman in Indiana whose benefits are literally cut off as she lays dying to a family in Pennsylvania in daily fear of losing their daughter because they fit a certain statistical profile.
Algorithms of Oppression: How Search Engines Reinforce Racism
Through an analysis of textual and media searches as well as extensive research on paid online advertising, Noble exposes a culture of racism and sexism in the way discoverability is created online. As search engines and their related companies grow in importance―operating as a source for email, a major vehicle for primary and secondary school learning, and beyond―understanding and reversing these disquieting trends and discriminatory practices is of utmost importance.
An original, surprising and, at times, disturbing account of bias on the internet, Algorithms of Oppression contributes to our understanding of how racism is created, maintained, and disseminated in the 21st century.
https://www.amazon.com/Algorithms-Oppression-Search-Engines-Reinforce/dp/1479837245/
The Ethical Algorithm: The Science of Socially Aware Algorithm Design
Understanding and improving the science behind the algorithms that run our lives is rapidly becoming one of the most pressing issues of this century. Traditional fixes, such as laws, regulations and watchdog groups, have proven woefully inadequate. Reporting from the cutting edge of scientific research, The Ethical Algorithm offers a new approach: a set of principled solutions based on the emerging and exciting science of socially aware algorithm design. Michael Kearns and Aaron Roth explain how we can better embed human principles into machine code - without halting the advance of data-driven scientific exploration. Weaving together innovative research with stories of citizens, scientists, and activists on the front lines, The Ethical Algorithm offers a compelling vision for a future, one in which we can better protect humans from the unintended impacts of algorithms while continuing to inspire wondrous advances in technology.
https://www.amazon.com/Ethical-Algorithm-Science-Socially-Design/dp/0190948205/
The Alignment Problem: Machine Learning and Human Values
Today’s “machine-learning” systems, trained by data, are so effective that we’ve invited them to see and hear for us―and to make decisions on our behalf. But alarm bells are ringing. Recent years have seen an eruption of concern as the field of machine learning advances. When the systems we attempt to teach will not, in the end, do what we want or what we expect, ethical and potentially existential risks emerge. Researchers call this the alignment problem.
Systems cull résumés until, years later, we discover that they have inherent gender biases. Algorithms decide bail and parole―and appear to assess Black and White defendants differently. We can no longer assume that our mortgage application, or even our medical tests, will be seen by human eyes. And as autonomous vehicles share our streets, we are increasingly putting our lives in their hands.
The mathematical and computational models driving these changes range in complexity from something that can fit on a spreadsheet to a complex system that might credibly be called “artificial intelligence.” They are steadily replacing both human judgment and explicitly programmed software.
In best-selling author Brian Christian’s riveting account, we meet the alignment problem’s “first-responders,” and learn their ambitious plan to solve it before our hands are completely off the wheel. In a masterful blend of history and on-the ground reporting, Christian traces the explosive growth in the field of machine learning and surveys its current, sprawling frontier. Readers encounter a discipline finding its legs amid exhilarating and sometimes terrifying progress. Whether they―and we―succeed or fail in solving the alignment problem will be a defining human story.
The Alignment Problem offers an unflinching reckoning with humanity’s biases and blind spots, our own unstated assumptions and often contradictory goals. A dazzlingly interdisciplinary work, it takes a hard look not only at our technology but at our culture―and finds a story by turns harrowing and hopeful.
https://www.amazon.com/Alignment-Problem-Machine-Learning-Values/dp/0393868338/
Power and Prediction: The Disruptive Economics of Artificial Intelligence
What is at the root of this? In their bestselling first book, Prediction Machines, eminent economists Ajay Agrawal, Joshua Gans, and Avi Goldfarb explained the simple yet game-changing economics of AI. Now, in Power and Prediction, they go deeper, examining the most basic unit of analysis: the decision. The authors explain that the two key decision-making ingredients are prediction and judgment, and we perform both together in our minds, often without realizing it. The rise of AI is shifting prediction from humans to machines, relieving people from this cognitive load while increasing the speed and accuracy of decisions.
This sets the stage for a flourishing of new decisions and has profound implications for system-level innovation. Redesigning systems of interdependent decisions takes time—many industries are in the quiet before the storm—but when these new systems emerge, they can be disruptive on a global scale. Decision-making confers power. In industry, power confers profits; in society, power confers control. This process will have winners and losers, and the authors show how businesses can leverage opportunities, as well as protect their positions.
Filled with illuminating insights, rich examples, and practical advice, Power and Prediction is the must-read guide for any business leader or policymaker on how to make the coming AI disruptions work for you rather than against you.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1647824192/
Race After Technology: Abolitionist Tools for the New Jim Code
Benjamin argues that automation, far from being a sinister story of racist programmers scheming on the dark web, has the potential to hide, speed up, and deepen discrimination while appearing neutral and even benevolent when compared to the racism of a previous era. Presenting the concept of the “New Jim Code,” she shows how a range of discriminatory designs encode inequity by explicitly amplifying racial hierarchies; by ignoring but thereby replicating social divisions; or by aiming to fix racial bias but ultimately doing quite the opposite. Moreover, she makes a compelling case for race itself as a kind of technology, designed to stratify and sanctify social injustice in the architecture of everyday life.
This illuminating guide provides conceptual tools for decoding tech promises with sociologically informed skepticism. In doing so, it challenges us to question not only the technologies we are sold but also the ones we ourselves manufacture.
https://www.amazon.com/Race-After-Technology-Abolitionist-Tools/dp/1509526404/
Ethical Machines: Your Concise Guide to Totally Unbiased, Transparent, and Respectful AI
The promise of artificial intelligence is automated decision-making at scale, but that means AI also automates risk at scale. Are you prepared for that risk?
Already, many companies have suffered real damage when their algorithms led to discriminatory, privacy-invading, and even deadly outcomes. Self-driving cars have hit pedestrians; HR algorithms have precluded women from job searches; mortgage systems have denied loans to qualified minorities. And often the companies who deployed the AI couldn't explain why the black box made the decision it did.
In this environment, AI ethics isn't merely an academic curiosity, it's a business necessity. In Ethical Machines, Reid Blackman gives you all you need to understand AI ethics as a risk management challenge. He'll help you build, procure, and deploy AI in a way that's not only ethical but also safe in terms of your organization's reputation, regulatory compliance, and legal standing—and do it at scale.
And don't worry—the book's purpose is to get work done, not to ponder deep and existential questions about ethics and technology. Blackman's clear and accessible writing helps make a complex and often misunderstood concept like ethics easy to grasp. Most importantly, Blackman makes ethics actionable by tackling the big three ethical risks with AI—bias, explainability, and privacy—and tells you what to do (and what not to do) to mitigate them.
With practical approaches to everything from writing a strong statement of AI ethics principles to creating teams that effectively evaluate ethical risks, Ethical Machines is the one guide you need to ensure your AI advances your company's objectives instead of undermining them.
https://www.amazon.com/Ethical-Machines-Unbiased-Transparent-Respectful/dp/1647822815/
The Shame Machine: Who Profits in the New Age of Humiliation
“O’Neil reminds us that we must resist the urge to judge, belittle, and oversimplify, and instead allow always for complexity and lead always with empathy.”—Dave Eggers, author of The Every
Shame is a powerful and sometimes useful tool: When we publicly shame
corrupt politicians, abusive celebrities, or predatory corporations, we
reinforce values of fairness and justice. But as Cathy O’Neil argues in this
revelatory book, shaming has taken a new and dangerous turn. It is
increasingly being weaponized—used as a way to shift responsibility for
social problems from institutions to individuals. Shaming children for not
being able to afford school lunches or adults for not being able to find
work lets us off the hook as a society. After all, why pay higher taxes to
fund programs for people who are fundamentally unworthy?
O’Neil explores the machinery behind all this shame, showing how
governments, corporations, and the healthcare system capitalize on it. There
are damning stories of rehab clinics, reentry programs, drug and diet
companies, and social media platforms—all of which profit from “punching
down” on the vulnerable. Woven throughout The Shame Machine is the story of
O’Neil’s own struggle with body image and her recent weight-loss surgery,
which awakened her to the systematic shaming of fat people seeking medical
care.
With clarity and nuance, O’Neil dissects the relationship between shame and power. Whom does the system serve? Is it counter-productive to call out racists, misogynists, and vaccine skeptics? If so, when should someone be “canceled”? How do current incentive structures perpetuate the shaming cycle? And, most important, how can we all fight back?
https://www.amazon.com/Shame-Machine-Who-Profits-Humiliation/dp/1984825453
AI Ethics (The MIT Press Essential Knowledge series)
Artificial intelligence powers Google's search engine, enables Facebook to target advertising, and allows Alexa and Siri to do their jobs. AI is also behind self-driving cars, predictive policing, and autonomous weapons that can kill without human intervention. These and other AI applications raise complex ethical issues that are the subject of ongoing debate. This volume in the MIT Press Essential Knowledge series offers an accessible synthesis of these issues. Written by a philosopher of technology, AI Ethics goes beyond the usual hype and nightmare scenarios to address concrete questions.
Mark Coeckelbergh describes influential AI narratives, ranging from Frankenstein's monster to transhumanism and the technological singularity. He surveys relevant philosophical discussions: questions about the fundamental differences between humans and machines and debates over the moral status of AI. He explains the technology of AI, describing different approaches and focusing on machine learning and data science. He offers an overview of important ethical issues, including privacy concerns, responsibility and the delegation of decision making, transparency, and bias as it arises at all stages of data science processes. He also considers the future of work in an AI economy. Finally, he analyzes a range of policy proposals and discusses challenges for policymakers. He argues for ethical practices that embed values in design, translate democratic values into practices and include a vision of the good life and the good society.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08BT37HDM
Futureproof: 9 Rules for Humans in the Age of Automation
After decades of hype and sci-fi fantasies, artificial intelligence is leaping out of research labs and into the center of our lives. Automation doesn’t just threaten our jobs. It shapes our entire human experience, with AI and algorithms influencing the TV shows we watch, the music we listen to, the beliefs we hold, and the relationships we form.
And while the age-old debate over whether automation will destroy jobs rages on, an even more important question is being ignored:
How can we be happy, successful humans in a world that is increasingly built by and for machines?
In Futureproof: 9 Rules for Humans in the Age of Automation, New York Times technology columnist Kevin Roose lays out a hopeful, pragmatic vision for how we can thrive in the age of AI and automation. He shares the secrets of people and organizations that have survived previous waves of technological change, and explains what skills are necessary to stay ahead of today’s intelligent machines, with lessons like
Be surprising, social, and scarce.
Resist machine drift.
Leave handprints.
Demote your devices.
Treat AI like a chimp army.
Roose rejects the conventional wisdom that in order to succeed in the AI age, we have to become more like machines ourselves—hyper-efficient, data-driven workhorses. Instead, he says, we should focus on being more human, and doing the kinds of creative, inspiring, and meaningful things even the most advanced robots can’t do.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07ZN3TDWH/
Artificial Unintelligence: How Computers Misunderstand the World
Making a case against technochauvinism—the belief that technology is always the solution—Broussard argues that it's just not true that social problems would inevitably retreat before a digitally enabled Utopia. To prove her point, she undertakes a series of adventures in computer programming. She goes for an alarming ride in a driverless car, concluding “the cyborg future is not coming any time soon”; uses artificial intelligence to investigate why students can't pass standardized tests; deploys machine learning to predict which passengers survived the Titanic disaster; and attempts to repair the U.S. campaign finance system by building AI software. If we understand the limits of what we can do with technology, Broussard tells us, we can make better choices about what we should do with it to make the world better for everyone.
https://www.amazon.com/Artificial-Unintelligence-Computers-Misunderstand-World/dp/026253701X/
Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men
Celebrated feminist advocate Caroline Criado Perez investigates this
shocking root cause of gender inequality in the award-winning, #1
international bestseller Invisible Women. Examining the home, the workplace,
the public square, the doctor’s office, and more, Criado Perez unearths a
dangerous pattern in data and its consequences on women’s lives. Product
designers use a “one-size-fits-all” approach to everything from pianos to
cell phones to voice recognition software, when in fact this approach is
designed to fit men. Cities prioritize men’s needs when designing public
transportation, roads, and even snow removal, neglecting to consider women’s
safety or unique responsibilities and travel patterns. And in medical
research, women have largely been excluded from studies and textbooks,
leaving them chronically misunderstood, mistreated, and misdiagnosed.
Built on hundreds of studies in the United States, in the United Kingdom,
and around the world, and written with energy, wit, and sparkling
intelligence, this is a groundbreaking, highly readable exposé that will
change the way you look at the world.
https://www.amazon.com/Invisible-Women-Data-World-Designed/dp/1419735217/
Weapons of Math Destruction: How Big Data Increases Inequality and Threatens Democracy
But as mathematician and data scientist Cathy O’Neil reveals, the mathematical models being used today are unregulated and uncontestable, even when they’re wrong. Most troubling, they reinforce discrimination—propping up the lucky, punishing the downtrodden, and undermining our democracy in the process. Welcome to the dark side of Big Data.
https://www.amazon.com/Weapons-Math-Destruction-Increases-Inequality/dp/0553418831/
The Glass Cage: How Our Computers Are Changing Us
In The Glass Cage, best-selling author Nicholas Carr digs behind the
headlines about factory robots and self-driving cars, wearable computers and
digitized medicine, as he explores the hidden costs of granting software
dominion over our work and our leisure. Even as they bring ease to our
lives, these programs are stealing something essential from us.
Drawing on psychological and neurological studies that underscore how
tightly people’s happiness and satisfaction are tied to performing hard work
in the real world, Carr reveals something we already suspect: shifting our
attention to computer screens can leave us disengaged and
discontented.
From nineteenth-century textile mills to the cockpits of modern jets, from the frozen hunting grounds of Inuit tribes to the sterile landscapes of GPS maps, The Glass Cage explores the impact of automation from a deeply human perspective, examining the personal as well as the economic consequences of our growing dependence on computers.
With a characteristic blend of history and philosophy, poetry and science, Carr takes us on a journey from the work and early theory of Adam Smith and Alfred North Whitehead to the latest research into human attention, memory, and happiness, culminating in a moving meditation on how we can use technology to expand the human experience.
https://www.amazon.com/Glass-Cage-How-Computers-Changing/dp/0393351637
