What is it about?
Algorithms are becoming more and more important in society. We have shown the difficulty of agreeing on what the role of a "good" algorithm is. Should it automate things? Should it remove human influence? Or should it clean up noise? Here we follow the struggles of bioscientific researchers in deciding what a good algorithm is.
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Why is it important?
We have shown that algorithms are valued with very different yardsticks in the same situation. This highlights that the current focus on "bias" in algorithms is misplaced, as the yardsticks for good shift.
Perspectives
I hope this article makes people think about computer systems as more than than the most efficient and correct way to do things. Computer systems are powerful things that shape the world, but it might not be obvious what the best design of the system is. Even in the same organization.
Associate Professor Francis Lee
Chalmers University of Technology
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Styles of Valuation: Algorithms and Agency in High-throughput Bioscience, Science Technology & Human Values, July 2019, SAGE Publications,
DOI: 10.1177/0162243919866898.
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