Data Ethics 1
This is a reading, rather than videos with a lecture survey.
Data Ethics Reading
Please read
by Cathy O'Neil, published in Slate on Feb 4, 2016.
(a) Read “The ethical data scientist.” In your own words, explain the author’s argument that it would not be ethical to use race as a predictor for the homelessness project she worked on.
(b) Think of a different context where a predictor variable might be available, but it might not be ethical to use it.
(c) The author argues that data scientists are not paid to assess the effects of their algorithms. Choose one of the questions below, quoted from the article. List some positive and negative effects that an algorithm might have on people’s lives in that context.
“Do new-fangled social media algorithms encourage addictive gambling behavior?
“Do the teacher assessments encourage good teachers to stay in education?
“Does predictive policing improve long-term outcomes for the people targeted by their models?”