Auditing Algorithms – Adding Accountability to Automated Authority

An Introduction and Overview Published in Nature

A feature story in the journal Nature introduces “algorithm auditing” and describes the work of members of our research network. “Algorithms generally exacerbate problems when they are ‘closed loops that are not open for algorithmic auditing, for review, or for public debate,’” says Kate Crawford of the AI Now institute. She continues: “What concerns me most is the idea that we’re...

Resources

The Top 10 Kinds of Fairness

This is a recording of a ~20 minute talk proposing new research directions for the FAT (Fairness, Accountability, Transparency) technical community. It argues for an expansive definition of fairness that goes beyond “statistical” fairness or “comparative” fairness, and for automated monitoring for fairness as a research problem. Original title: “The Top 10 Threats to Fairness For Your Top 10 Ranking...

Videos

Just Google Me*

Just Google Me* New: Order these cards from VistaPrint, starting at $16. (Note that we receive no money from these orders and this link is meant to be a convenience. Feel free to take the text below and print your own cards.) Background Stationary stores now sell a small package of faux “business cards” that are pre-printed with the words...

Activities

Film Festival

The Compressed Algorithm-Auditing Film Festival A short (compressed) program of video about the representation of algorithms. We considered depictions of algorithms or computing in popular entertainment, educational video about algorithms, and artistic work produced algorithmically. Festival Program Total run time: about 45 minutes. (If excerpts are used as indicated below.) “Google my Bubul,” Krsna Solo (Mumbai, India, 2014). An...

Activities/Videos

Algorithms Dérive

We produced an “Auditing Algorithms” Dérive and we invite you to contribute to it. A dérive (French for “drift”) is an algorithmic process created by situationist artists that produces an unplanned journey. A dérive asks participants to “drop…[their] usual motives for movement and action” through a city and to replace them with experiences motivated by randomness. Dérives are intended to change the participant’s...

Activities

The Bad News About Online Discrimination in Algorithmic Systems

This is a recording of a public roundtable discussion. Originally, this event was streamed online and questions were taken from the Twitter hashtag (#algoaudit) and the BKC Live Question Tool. Panelists: Solon Barocas, Cornell University J. Nathan Matias, Princeton University H. V. Jagadish, University of Michigan Christian Sandvig, University of Michigan Originally held: THURSDAY, September 28, 2017 4:00-5:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight...

Videos

Researching Social Media, Online Platforms, and Algorithmic Systems From the Outside

This is a recording of a public roundtable discussion. Originally, this event was streamed online and questions were taken from the Twitter hashtag (#algoaudit) and the BKC Live Question Tool. Panelists: Eric Gilbert, University of Michigan Cedric Langbort, University of Illinois Jeff Larson, ProPublica Casey Pierce, University of Michigan Christo Wilson, Northeastern University Originally held: FRIDAY, September 29, 2017 10-11:30...

Videos

A6 Stickers

To publicize our workshop and this Web site, our co-organizers designed an oval sticker referencing oval country code car stickers and the A2 stickers commonly seen in Ann Arbor, Michigan. A6 stands for “Auditing Algorithms: Adding Accountability to Automated Authority.” Order this design from MakeStickers. (Note that we receive no money from these orders and this link is meant to be...

Activities