The Ethical Algorithm

The Science of Socially Aware Algorithm Design

By: Michael Kearns, Aaron Roth

Narrated by: Teri Schnaubelt

Over the course of a generation, algorithms have gone from mathematical abstractions to powerful mediators of daily life. Algorithms have made our lives more efficient, more entertaining, and, sometimes, better informed. At the same time, complex algorithms are increasingly violating the basic rights of individual citizens. Allegedly anonymized datasets routinely leak our most sensitive personal information; statistical models for everything from mortgages to college admissions reflect racial and gender bias. Meanwhile, users manipulate algorithms to "game" search engines, spam filters, online reviewing services, and navigation apps.

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.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2020 Michael Kearns and Aaron Roth (P)2020 Tantor

very relevant and important, especially with all the developments today

As a field, AI is moving extremely fast - so it is fair to say that this is an ‘old book’ for this field. Yet every single topic addressed in it is so very important, critical and still unresolved. The authors are very good in explaining the issues and making them accessible for people from all kinds of backgrounds. It must be a mandatory read for all technical disciplines, and especially in computer science programs.

why the gold standard may not be golden.

excellent down to earth analysis of the fundamentals of algorithms, statistics, and the difficulty of modeling behaviors accurately, reliably, and ethically.

Great read!!!

This was an interesting view into the problems involved mixing algorithms with general decision making in many contexts.

too "theoretical"

The authors started out with a disclaimer that they were theoretical computer scientists, so maybe I should have been forewarned, but the book was indeed quite theoretical. I was expecting and would have liked more concrete examples. I've taken stats and actually enjoyed it, and there were places where I was confused because it was too stats-heavy. I think the format being an audiobook didn't help; this particular book probably works better in print. Although I didn't love the narrator's voice, she mostly wasn't too bad, just a bit robotic. However, there were several words that she mispronounced, and she pronounced "Nobel" as "noble" repeatedly (which imo seems like something that should be caught by an editor).