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USACM Issues Statement on
Algorithmic Transparency and
Accountability
 Recognizing the
ubiquity of algorithms in our
daily lives, as well as their
far-reaching impact, the ACM
US Public Policy Council
(USACM) has issued a statement
and a list of seven principles
designed to address potential
harmful bias. The goals of the
statement include: providing
context for what algorithms are,
how they make decisions, and the
technical challenges and
opportunities to prevent and
mitigate potential harmful bias.
The USACM statement asserts
that these principles should
guide every phase of software
system development and
deployment. “Algorithmic bias
can occur even with the best of
intentions,” said Stuart
Shapiro, USACM Chair. “This is,
in part, due to the fact that
both software development and
its products can be complex and
produce unanticipated results.
Following these principles
cannot guarantee that there will
be no biased algorithms or
biased outputs. But they will
serve to keep computing
professionals on the lookout for
ways biases could creep into
systems and provide guidelines
on how to minimize the potential
for harm.”
The Statement on Algorithmic
Transparency and Accountability
was designed to be consistent
with ACM’s
Code of Ethics. The effort
was initiated by USACM’s
Algorithmic Accountability
Working Group.
Read
the ACM news release.
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