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A Book Review of The Ethical Algorithm: The Science of Socially Aware Algorithm Design by Kearns and Roth; and Thoughts for Legal Information Professionals

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 October 2021

Abstract

This article consists of two parts. The first part is a review of the book entitled, ‘The Ethical Algorithm: The Science of Socially Aware Algorithm Design’, written by Professors Michael Kearns and Aaron Roth of the Computer and Information Science Department, University of Pennsylvania. The book was published in 2019 by Oxford University Press. The second part consists of thoughts learned from the book and how they could be applied to the work of legal information management professionals when facing tasks related to the ethical algorithms in artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics. How online privacy continues to be the main concern in the AI and robot era will be discussed, as well as the rise of concerns over AI and robots and how they might make unfair decisions toward vulnerable populations which could then become acts of discrimination. Examples of real-world problems of AI and robotics are also noted in this article.

Type
AI, Algorithms and the Legal Information World
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by British and Irish Association of Law Librarians

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References

Footnotes

1 Intahchomphoo, Channarong and Gundersen, Odd Erik, ‘Artificial Intelligence and Race: A Systematic Review’ (2020) 20(2) LIM 74CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

2 Kearns, Michael and Roth, Aaron, The Ethical Algorithm: The Science of Socially Aware Algorithm Design, (New York, Oxford University Press 2019)Google Scholar.

3 Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, Joint Investigation of Clearview AI, Inc. by the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, the Commission d'accès à l'information du Québec, the Information and Privacy Commissioner for British Columbia, and the Information Privacy Commissioner of Alberta (February 2021), https://www.priv.gc.ca/en/opc-actions-and-decisions/investigations/investigations-into-businesses/2021/pipeda-2021-001/> [https://perma.cc/7EEE-TQWU].

4 Juliette Rihl, ‘Facial Recognition Use Spiked After the Capitol Riot. Privacy Advocates Are Leery’ (January 2021), online:<https://www.publicsource.org/capitol-riot-dc-clearview-facial-recognition-privacy/> [https://perma.cc/LL9G-QZ3Y].

5 BBC, ‘Google Apologises for Photos App’s Racist Blunder’ (July, 2015), online:<https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-33347866> [https://perma.cc/793J-4N5V].

6 Facebook, ‘Changes to Sharing and Viewing News on Facebook in Australia’ (February 2021), online:<https://about.fb.com/news/2021/02/changes-to-sharing-and-viewing-news-on-facebook-in-australia/> [https://perma.cc/7L38-7RF8].

7 News Corp and Facebook Reach News Agreement in Australia The Wall Street Journal (March, 2021), online: <https://www.wsj.com/articles/news-corp-and-facebook-reach-news-agreement-in-australia-11615847666> [https://perma.cc/DL8L-XXYL].