Democratising algorithms

It may seem a surprise but the original data accountability standard was set by president Richard Nixon in the Fair Credit Reporting Act in 1970. Nixon – not otherwise known for his commitment to transparency,  included the right for citizens to examine and challenge the data used to make algorithmic decisions about them. Meanwhile, algorithms have become ubiquitous in … Continue reading "Democratising algorithms"

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About Trump and biased machine learning algorithms

A very interesting article by Cathy O’Neil on the relationship of machine learning in our political and policy spheres. She makes a quick, but to the point observation on Donald Trump: He is not like normal people. In particular, he doesn’t have any principles to speak of, that might guide him. No moral compass. That doesn’t mean he doesn’t have a … Continue reading "About Trump and biased machine learning algorithms"

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Social media echo chambers and democracy

In 2009, I spoke at a conference in Madrid with Jim Margolis, who served as a Senior Advisor to Barack Obama in both his 2008 and 2012 campaigns for the White House. In his talk Jim explained how the 2008 campaign was the first presidential campaign where social media was decisive to win the elections. That success was later … Continue reading "Social media echo chambers and democracy"

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