February 2020 - nexa - server-nexa.polito.it

How Cashless Restaurants Reinforce Systemic Racism

by J.C. DE MARTIN

https://www.gq.com/story/cashless-restaurants-reinforce-systemic-racism (Sent from my wireless device; please excuse brevity and typos (if any))

Feb. 3, 2020

The Ethics of Dissent in the Workplace

by Giacomo Tesio

Interessante (e velocissimo) excursus storico https://spectrum.ieee.org/tech-talk/at-work/tech-careers/ethics-engineers-d… Il concetto di “loyal opposition” però mi lascia molto perplesso. Al di là della vaga flessibilità (che giocherà sempre a vantaggio del management), mi appare come un contentino. "Sì dai... placate le vostre coscienze facendoci perdere un po' di tempo... basta che poi fate quello che diciamo noi..." Forse all'Università bisognerebbe offrire corsi (obbligatori) di etica pratica. Un semestre per allenarsi a dire "No. Non si può fare." invece di "No. Non è giusto." Giacomo _____ In June 2018, Microsoft employees critical of a contract between the company and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) wrote to Satya Nadella, the company’s chief, accusing him and other Microsoft executives of “abdicating” ethical responsibility. In October, of this year, employees of Microsoft’s GitHub unit lodged the same protests over a GitHub contract with ICE. Last year Google employees revolted over the company’s plans to design a censored version of its search engine for the Chinese market codenamed “Project Dragonfly.” Reportedly more than a thousand Google employees signed a public letter of complaint, and the company dropped the project. Not all dissenters are liberals. In 2017, a Google software engineer named James Damore stirred controversy by internally circulating a memo complaining that “an ideological echo chamber” prevented “some ideas” about diversity from being “honestly discussed.” Among those, Damore insisted, was the possibility that the low number of women in technical positions at Google was the result biological differences and not gender stereotyping. When Damore’s memo went public (and viral), Google fired him. No matter the source or political complexion, some rebel engineers choose to move on. While working at Google, Tristan Harris claimed the company purposely designed systems that promote digital addictions, or intense cravings to remain online. In 2013, he shared with coworkers a presentation entitled, “A Call to Minimize Distraction & Respect Users’ Attention.” Harris suggested that Google, Apple and Facebook should “feel an enormous responsibility” to make sure humanity doesn't spend its days immersed in digital experiences. Tens of thousands of Google employees reportedly viewed the presentation, and debated internally the company’s responsibilities towards society. Harris no longer works at Google and now, as the director of an advocacy group named Center for Humane Technology, actively campaigns against the power of “big tech” to colonize the minds of its users. [...] The dissenting impulse among EEs is closely tied to attitudes towards professionalization. Engineers are sometimes caught between twin ideals—between the independence and self-governance afforded, say, physicians and lawyers, and the view advanced by many corporate employers that engineers are employees who must follower orders, so that those who resist management dictates are guilty of insubordination and disloyalty. The tension between independence and obligations to employers has shaped the rise of engineering as a profession. In a path breaking study first published in 1971, Revolt of the Engineers: Social Responsibility and the American Engineering Profession, historian Edwin Layton recounted of the political activities of engineers in the 1920s and 1930s. In a preface to the book in 1986, Layton expressed the hope that engineers can ultimately become a “loyal opposition” within American business, neither uncritically following management nor instinctively dismissive of the justifiable demands of large corporate employers. [...]

Feb. 3, 2020

Why cancer-spotting AI needs to be handled with care - The Verge

by J.C. DE MARTIN

Why cancer-spotting AI needs to be handled with care Accelerating cancer diagnoses could hurt more than it helps By James Vincent on January 27, 2020 8:00 am https://www.theverge.com/2020/1/27/21080253/ai-cancer-diagnosis-dangers-mam… (Sent from my wireless device; please excuse brevity and typos (if any))

Feb. 2, 2020

AI - deconstructing the decisions made by software

by Giovanni Biscuolo

Premessa: rompo il thread perché mi pare giusto così :-) Giovanni Leghissa <giovanni.leghissa(a)unito.it> writes: > un interessante riferimento al nesso guerra/AI > https://warontherocks.com/2020/01/ai-cyberspace-and-nuclear-weapons/ grazie infinite, è un riferimento preziosissimo! mi permetto di seglalare un interessante articolo della stessa serie "AI and Nationa Secutiry" [1] che analizza il nocciolo della questione, ovvero: "Human context and agency are integral to decision-making" "59 percent likely hostile" https://warontherocks.com/2020/01/59-percent-likely-hostile/ mi permetto anche di farne un executive summary (così decidete se affrontare la lettura, l'articolo è lungo): --8<---------------cut here---------------start------------->8--- Military operators should understand — and be trained to engage with — probabilistic outcomes when working with AI-enabled technology. Without an appreciation of how to apply “common sense,” operators will lose confidence in these technologies when the model inevitably appears to get things wrong. Understanding the following three concepts will empower users to best utilize AI applications: probability, cognitive bias, and deconstructing the decisions made by software. [...] While the debate rages on over what AI applications should and could be developed, there is a desperate need to take a step back and have a conversation about probability: what it is, how it is understood, and how statistical models can be integrated into decision making. [...] The 2016 presidential election was a perfect example of how probabilities can be misread. [...] The key difference between these scenarios is the context and the bias that each of us brings to the table. This is something extremely important to understand with applications of statistical models for warfighters. [...] If a software program suggests a course of action that the operator doesn’t understand or intuitively agree with, the operator will typically either surrender his agency to the computer or dismiss it out of hand. [...] the Department of Defense must provide technical experts to help bridge the gap between military users and developers of AI technology.[...] This will ensure that even if applications are not developed in-house, end users will have the ability to fully understand and best utilize them. [...] Pulling back the curtain on how AI works and on how we understand it will demystify AI, and empower all military operators to use the myriad AI systems proliferating today. [...] As the Department of Defense looks to embrace AI-powered technologies, it should focus not just on creating the best technology possible, but on making sure its people are equipped to utilize the technology. [...] Military AI applications, with their inherent risks for moral hazard, will and must retain a human in the loop. Human context and agency are integral to tactical decision-making, and AI/operator teams must work in concert to be most effective. Warfighter buy-in is of the utmost importance, and will only be achieved by a better grounding in probability and cognitive biases. --8<---------------cut here---------------end--------------->8--- lo trovo davvero un bel pezzo [...] Saluti, Giovanni [1] https://warontherocks.com/category/special-series/ai-and-national-security/ -- Giovanni Biscuolo Xelera IT Infrastructures

Feb. 2, 2020

Re: [nexa] Etica delle tecnologie moderne

by Giovanni Leghissa

un interessante riferimento al nesso guerra/AI https://warontherocks.com/2020/01/ai-cyberspace-and-nuclear-weapons/ Il giorno sab 1 feb 2020 alle ore 21:54 don Luca Peyron < dluca.universitari(a)gmail.com> ha scritto: > Cosa vuol dire "fare esperienza" in un tempo in cui tutte le nuove > generazioni fanno esperienza, appunto, a partire dalle modalità > tecnologiche quindi attraverso un processo molto diverso da quello > esercitato fino a qualche decennio fa. Con *Felice Cimatti* discutono > sull'argomento, *Barbara Volpi*, docente presso il Dipartimento di > Piscologia dinamica de "La Sapienza" di Roma, e *Paolo Benanti* > francescano del Terzo Ordine Regolare che insegna Etica e Bioetica delle > Comunicazioni alla Pontificia Università Gregoriana di Roma. > > Buon ascolto e buona domenica > > dl > > > https://www.raiplayradio.it/audio/2020/01/-quotEtica-delle-tecnologie-moder… > _________________________ > www.universitari.to.it > via XX settembre 83, Torino > tel. 011 5156239 > _______________________________________________ > nexa mailing list > nexa(a)server-nexa.polito.it > https://server-nexa.polito.it/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/nexa >

Feb. 1, 2020

Etica delle tecnologie moderne

by don Luca Peyron

Cosa vuol dire "fare esperienza" in un tempo in cui tutte le nuove generazioni fanno esperienza, appunto, a partire dalle modalità tecnologiche quindi attraverso un processo molto diverso da quello esercitato fino a qualche decennio fa. Con *Felice Cimatti* discutono sull'argomento, *Barbara Volpi*, docente presso il Dipartimento di Piscologia dinamica de "La Sapienza" di Roma, e *Paolo Benanti* francescano del Terzo Ordine Regolare che insegna Etica e Bioetica delle Comunicazioni alla Pontificia Università Gregoriana di Roma. Buon ascolto e buona domenica dl https://www.raiplayradio.it/audio/2020/01/-quotEtica-delle-tecnologie-moder… _________________________ www.universitari.to.it via XX settembre 83, Torino tel. 011 5156239

Feb. 1, 2020

What Statistics Can and Can’t Tell Us About Ourselves | The New Yorker

by Antonio Vetro'

Articolo dello scorso settembre, su un tema già commentato più volte in questa lista, soprattutto dagli accademici https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/09/09/what-statistics-can-and-cant-… "In the era of Big Data, we’ve come to believe that, with enough information, human behavior is predictable. But number crunching can lead us perilously wrong.” By Hannah Fry *Hannah Fry is a professor at University College London’s Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis. Her latest book is “Hello World.”

Feb. 1, 2020