The Ethical Algorithm: The Science of Socially Aware Algorithm Design

✍️ Michael Kearns

Tags: michael-kearns , data-science , ai , lang-en

Aaron Roth and Michael Kearns did a very good job in explaining the interplay/trade-offs between privacy, fairness, accuracy and algorithms. The key take away message from the book is that the algorithms do exactly (and literally) what they are instructed to do. The book also show that we need very precise definitions of privacy and fairness. Several fairness and privacy issues arise exactly because what seemed precise definitions and instructions for us humans are exactly the opposite for computers and can, as a result, harm the groups we wished to protect.