All Narratives (355)
Find narratives by ethical themes or by technologies.
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- 7 min
- ZDNet
- 2020
Dr. Gary Marcus explains that deep machine learning as it currently exists is not maximizing the potential of AI to collect and process knowledge. He essentially argues that these machine “brains” should have more innate knowledge than they do, similar to how animal brains function in processing an environment. Ideally, this sort of baseline knowledge would be used to collect and process information from “Knowledge graphs,” a semantic web of information available on the internet which can sometimes be hard for an AI to process without translation to machine vocabularies such as RDF.
- ZDNet
- 2020
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- 7 min
- ZDNet
- 2020
Rebooting AI: Deep learning, meet knowledge graphs
Dr. Gary Marcus explains that deep machine learning as it currently exists is not maximizing the potential of AI to collect and process knowledge. He essentially argues that these machine “brains” should have more innate knowledge than they do, similar to how animal brains function in processing an environment. Ideally, this sort of baseline knowledge would be used to collect and process information from “Knowledge graphs,” a semantic web of information available on the internet which can sometimes be hard for an AI to process without translation to machine vocabularies such as RDF.
Does giving a machine similar learning capabilities to humans and animals bring artificial intelligence closer to singularity? Should humans ultimately be in control of what a machine learns? What is problematic about leaving AI less capable of understanding semantic webs?
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- 35 min
- Wired
- 2021
In this podcast, interviewees share several narratives which discuss how certain technologies, especially digital photo albums, social media sites, and dating apps, can change the nature of relationships and memories. Once algorithms for certain sites have an idea of what a certain user may want to see, it can be hard for the user to change that idea, as the Pinterest wedding example demonstrates. When it comes to photos, emotional reactions can be hard or nearly impossible for a machine to predict. While dating apps do not necessarily make a profit by mining data, the Match monopoly of creating different types of dating niches through a variety of apps is cause for some concern.
- Wired
- 2021
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- 35 min
- Wired
- 2021
How Tech Transformed How We Hook Up—and Break Up
In this podcast, interviewees share several narratives which discuss how certain technologies, especially digital photo albums, social media sites, and dating apps, can change the nature of relationships and memories. Once algorithms for certain sites have an idea of what a certain user may want to see, it can be hard for the user to change that idea, as the Pinterest wedding example demonstrates. When it comes to photos, emotional reactions can be hard or nearly impossible for a machine to predict. While dating apps do not necessarily make a profit by mining data, the Match monopoly of creating different types of dating niches through a variety of apps is cause for some concern.
How should algorithms determine what photos a specific user may want to see or be reminded of? Should machines be trusted with this task at all? Should users be able to take a more active role in curating their content in certain albums or sites, and would most users even want to do this? Does the existence of dating apps drastically change the nature of dating? How could creating a new application which introduces a new dating “niche” ultimately serve a tech monopoly?
Gadget Lab: Breaking Up, Hooking Up-
- 51 min
- TechCrunch
- 2020
In this podcast, several disability experts discuss the evolving relationship between disabled people, society, and technology. The main point of discussion is the difference between the medical and societal models of disability, and how the medical lens tends to spur technologies with an individual focus on remedying disability, whereas the societal lens could spur technologies that lead to a more accessible world. Artificial Intelligence and machine learning is labelled as inherently “normative” since it is trained on data that comes from a biased society, and therefore is less likely to work in favor of a social group as varied as disabled people. There is a clear need for institutional change in the technology industry to address these problems.
- TechCrunch
- 2020
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- 51 min
- TechCrunch
- 2020
Artificial Intelligence and Disability
In this podcast, several disability experts discuss the evolving relationship between disabled people, society, and technology. The main point of discussion is the difference between the medical and societal models of disability, and how the medical lens tends to spur technologies with an individual focus on remedying disability, whereas the societal lens could spur technologies that lead to a more accessible world. Artificial Intelligence and machine learning is labelled as inherently “normative” since it is trained on data that comes from a biased society, and therefore is less likely to work in favor of a social group as varied as disabled people. There is a clear need for institutional change in the technology industry to address these problems.
What are some problems with injecting even the most unbiased of technologies into a system biased against certain groups, including disabled people? How can developers aim to create technology which can actually put accessibility before profit? How can it be ensured that AI algorithms take into account more than just normative considerations? How can developers be forced to consider the myriad impacts that one technology may have on large heterogeneous communities such as the disabled community?
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- 5 min
- Tech Crunch
- 2020
During Google’s attempt to merge with the company Fitbit, the NGO Amnesty International has provided warnings to the competition regulators in the EU that such a move would be detrimental to privacy. Based on Google’s historical malpractice with user data, since its status as a tech monopoly allows it to mine data from several different avenues of a user’s life, adding wearable health-based tech to this equation puts the privacy and rights of users at risk. Calls for scrunity of “surveillance capitalism” employed by tech giants.
- Tech Crunch
- 2020
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- 5 min
- Tech Crunch
- 2020
No Google-Fitbit merger without human rights remedies, says Amnesty to EU
During Google’s attempt to merge with the company Fitbit, the NGO Amnesty International has provided warnings to the competition regulators in the EU that such a move would be detrimental to privacy. Based on Google’s historical malpractice with user data, since its status as a tech monopoly allows it to mine data from several different avenues of a user’s life, adding wearable health-based tech to this equation puts the privacy and rights of users at risk. Calls for scrunity of “surveillance capitalism” employed by tech giants.
When considering how companies and advertisers may use them, what sorts of personal statistics related to health and well-being should and should not be collected by mobile computing devices? How can devices originally built to stand on their own as one technological artifact become more convenient or harmful to a user when they become part of a technological architecture?
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- 5 min
- Wired
- 2020
As means of preserving deceased loved ones digitally become more and more likely, it is critical to consider the implications of technologies which aim to replicate and capture the personality and traits of those who have passed. Not only might this change the natural process of grieving and healing, it may also have alarming consequences for the agency of the dead. For the corresponding Black Mirror episode discussed in the article, see the narratives “Martha and Ash Parts I and II.”
- Wired
- 2020
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- 5 min
- Wired
- 2020
The Ethics of Rebooting the Dead
As means of preserving deceased loved ones digitally become more and more likely, it is critical to consider the implications of technologies which aim to replicate and capture the personality and traits of those who have passed. Not only might this change the natural process of grieving and healing, it may also have alarming consequences for the agency of the dead. For the corresponding Black Mirror episode discussed in the article, see the narratives “Martha and Ash Parts I and II.”
Should anyone be allowed to use digital resurrection technologies if they feel it may better help them cope? With all the data points that exist for internet users in this day and age, is it easier to create versions of deceased people which are uncannily similar to their real identities? What would be missing from this abstraction? How is a person’s identity kept uniform or recognizable if they are digitally resurrected?
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- 3 min
- Tech Crunch
- 2020
This narrative explains that the push for technology to help with accessibility for disabled groups, especially blind or visually impaired individuals, has spurred scientific innovation which is to the benefit of everyone.
- Tech Crunch
- 2020
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- 3 min
- Tech Crunch
- 2020
What will tomorrow’s tech look like? Ask someone who can’t see.
This narrative explains that the push for technology to help with accessibility for disabled groups, especially blind or visually impaired individuals, has spurred scientific innovation which is to the benefit of everyone.
What are the benefits of developing technologies and innovations which aim to solve a specific problem? How might this lead to unprecedented positive innovations? How can accessibility become a priority, and become adequately incentivized, in tech development, instead of other priorities such as profit?