On Knives, Ethics & Algorithms
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Transcript of On Knives, Ethics & Algorithms
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SHOULD BIOMETRIC ENGINEERS BE ACCOUNTABLE FOR THE ALGORITHMS THAT THEY WRITE?
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E M I L I O M O R D I N I
ON KNIVES, ETHICS & ALGORITHMS
Presentation delivered at the XI International Summer School on Biometrics – Alghero June 13,
2014
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ACCOUNTABILITY
A moral agent should be held accountable for the consequences of her/his actions or projects.
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ACCOUNTABILITY IN HETEROGENEOUS ORGANISATIONS
Contemporary world is increasingly made up by heterogeneous organisations in which individuals and technological devices amalgamate and perform activities side by side. This allows playing a new version of the old “blame avoidance” game
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ARE YOU ACCOUNTABLE FOR YOUR ALGORITHMS?
It is not me! It’s the algorithm!
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THE «KNIFE ARGUMENT»
THE STANDARD ARGUMENT
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STRUCTURE OF THE ARGUMENT
Claiming that writers of algorithms should be held accountable for the consequences that the use of such algorithms may have, is it comparable to holding the manufacturer of a knife accountable for the death of anyone killed by that knife.
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IN OTHER WORDS
If you consider an engineer responsible for the usage of the technology that he created, then you should consider responsible the knife producer for all homicides made by using a knife
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A VERY STRONG ARGUMENT?
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MMH…. LET’S SEE
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HOW MANY KNIVES EXIST?
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ALTHOUGH YOU COULD CALL THEM BOTH KNIVES, THESE TWO ITEMS ARE NOT THE SAME ITEM, ARE THEY?
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MILITARY KNIVES
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ANCIENT KNIVES
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CAMPING KNIVES
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KITCHEN KNIVES
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COMBAT KNIVES
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COUNTRY KNIVES
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CUTTERS AND RETRACTABLE
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HIGH TECH KNIVES
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HUNTING KNIVES
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MASKED KNIVES
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UNUSUAL KNIVES
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POCKET KNIVES
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PLASTIC KNIVES
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THROWING KNIVES
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TABLE KNIVES
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THE «KNIFE» DOES NOT EXIST
In real life there is not a «knife» but there are many different items that we call collectively «knives» because they share some properties, but in the same while they also show very different features, including their capacity for harming
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OF COURSE EVERYTHING COULD BE USED TO KILL
LET’S SEE SOME EXAMPLES
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SHOOES
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JAR OF PICKELS
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SPATULA
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TOILET TANK LID
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PEN
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SPOON
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BOWLING BALL
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HOUSE BRICK
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… AND EVEN
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BUT…DES IGN IS ST ILL IMPORTANT AS KN IFE H ISTORY SHOWS
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1630 AD
Cardinal Richelieu got irritated by the behavior of men at the dining tables, stabbing their knives (which doubled as table cutlery) into chunks of meat and other food, or into the table, and by the their habit of using the sharp knives to pick their teeth at the end of the meal. To put an end to this behavior, he ordered his kitchen staff to file off the sharp points of all the house knifes. Soon this new style of rounded table knife became a trendy dinner accessory.
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1669 AD
King Louis XIV of France, the Sun King (le Roi-Soleil), banned pointed knives – at the table and as weapons – to try put an end to the culture of violence of the time. This further cemented the position of the round-ended table knife as preferred form of cutlery.
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IN CONCLUSIONTHE KNIFE ARGUMENT IS FALLACIOUS
BECAUSE
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THESE TWO ITEMS ARE NOT THE SAME
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AND THE SAME HOLDS TRUE WITH ALGORITHMS
Gesture Recognition Euthanasia Decision
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TAKE FOR INSTANCE SOFT BIOMETRICS
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SKIN COLOUR IS ONE ELEMENT USED FOR DETERMINING ETHNICITY THROUGH SOFT BIOMETRICS
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THER ARE AT LEAST 36 DIFFERENT SKIN COLOURS IN THE HUMAN SPECIES
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THESE TWO SKINS ARE NOT THE SAME COLOUR ALTHOUGH YOU MAY CALL THEM BOTH «BLACK»
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THESE TWO SKINS ARE NOT THE SAME COLOUR ALTHOUGH YOU MAY CALL THEM BOTH «WHITE»
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IF YOUR ALGORITHMS CONSIDER ONLY 5 SKIN COLOURS, THEN …
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THE BLAME FOR THIS WILL BE ALSO ON YOU
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OF COURSE YOU COULD ACHIEVE RACISM BY OTHER MEANS AS WELL
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YET THIS DOES NOT CHANGE THE FACT THAT
Technologies provide values that follow from properties of the technology itself
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OF COURSE
No one could predict how a technological artifact will be used in real life
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YET TECHNOLOGY DESIGN IS NOT VALUE-FREE
The way in which a technology is used is embedded in its design
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FOR INSTANCE
A racist engineer will unvoidably design technologies which will be more prone to be used for racist purposes
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KEEP CONTROL OF YOUR TECHNOLOGY
The more an engineer is unaware of her value mindset, the more her technology will be out of her control
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BE AWARE OF YOUR VALUES
It is an ethical obligation for those who write computer algorithms to be aware of their value bias.
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FINAL RECOMMENDATION
And above all, please, please, please, never use any longer the metaphor of knife to argue that computer scientists should not be considered ethically accountable for their algorithms
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THANKS FOR YOUR ATTENTION
emi l io.mordin i@rtexpert .com