Category: Critical DH

Algorithmic criticism essentially dictates the AI Bias, or Black-Box Algorithms ( https://www.wired.com/story/what-does-a-fair-algorithm-look-like/?GuidesLearnMore ) when google searching a topic. The algorithmic manipulation of literacy when a google search is made consists of many different variations. For example, according to Noble, Algorithms of Oppression, when google searching “Black Girls”, all that comes up on the first page is pornography. Feminism in the 1930’s impacted the search engines in the sense that male decision making and google searches tend to shift towards sexualizing women. The blatant sexist and demoralizing male bias behind this is appalling, and unfortunately, whoever is in charge of creating these ludicrous algorithms that come up with that kind of search results does not care about knowledge and un-bias decision making, but rather only cares about a small portion of the population. Another example is when big , money making corporations have the finances to put their advertisements over simple google searches; meaning no matter what you personally want to search, you are forced to look at some business as well. Contemporary digital activists and WPA – era activists are similar in the sense that the search results have not changed much. They still prioritize the more vulgar, sexist, and racist results rather than an algorithm that takes everyone into account.

An Algorithm as described by Cathy O’neil is an opinion embedded in math. ¹ The purpose for an algorithm is to determine success through historical data to give the best accurate outcome. Algorithmic criticism is seen through web searches and different lengths of advertising, as well as racism. To some degree, most algorithms are racist because of the data and stereotypes embedded into these equations. While reading Safiya Nobel’s Algorithms of Oppression, simple acts such as researching women becomes a an event of discrimination and judgement. ² Search engines, such as google have created stereotypes for white and black women. Black women are loud, ghetto or angry. While white woman are portrayed as beautiful, perfect or skinny. People of color have endured a difficult and lengthy path to advocate for civil rights.

In the New Deal Era, people of color were excluded from social security and welfare. Black people struggled to be recognized and obtain rights that were given to all white Americans. Despite the fact that Black Americans are now granted the basic rights of freedom, algorithms are a subtle reminder of how racism is still alive and thriving. Using historical data set to prevent loans or credit cards based off of technological systems can be dangerous. AI software used by Google is very powerful within itself, and although the system is programed to make good assumptions based on patters, it fails to recognize the ethics that comes with it.

In order to become better consumers of digital media we must hold companies responsible and enforce action towards understanding minorities. We must ask questions and question their overall definition of success by their motives. As O’neil stated, we must hire data analyst to look over patterns and trends to ensure these softwares are meeting basic measure of success, while granting reasonable explanations that refrain from being discriminatory, racist or biased.

Algorithmic criticism is, essentially, exactly what it sounds like. Algorithms in theory make the sorting of information easier, but human operators must take caution to not assume that they are immune to both accidental and intentionally programmed bias. One of the simplest ways to counter this is to continuously monitor what content algorithms not only take in, but produce as a result. The larger problem comes in once we begin to face the societal issues: algorithms do not suggest content such as “women should not have rights” (Noble, 15) or present black girls as “the fodder of porn sites” (Noble, 18) if nobody is searching such things.

The concept of tools intended to help people from all walks of life being corrupted by prejudice is nothing new. Multiple New Deal programs from the 1930s intended to help Americans find employment amidst the Great Depression were, at best, failing to take into account the presence of women and people of color, and at work, actively working against giving them aid. Early feminist and civil rights movements put a great deal of work into attempting to counter this, much like the way modern technological movements like Black Girls Code (Noble, 28) attempt to fill the room with more diverse voices. But the 1930s were a troubling time of paradox. Even as a woman was appointed to President Roosevelt’s inner circle, which was a massive political victory, women found themselves being shut out of many of the fields that they pioneered, such as early coding and filmmaking. In the South, black men who sought work right alongside white men became victims of lynching and other hate crimes. The repercussions of gatekeeping and hate crimes have followed America into the 21st Century, but so have efforts to counter them. Every feminist movement has evolved out of the last, including that of the early 20th Century from proto-feminist writings of the 19th. Scholars such as Jennifer Ritterhouse and Jacquelyn Dowd Hall propose the term of a Long Civil Rights Movement, as a remedy to the narrative that the struggle for racial equality began and ended in the 1960s.

The Digital Age will continue to grow and shift alongside what grows from it. It would be inaccurate to say that no attempts are being made to ensure that it remains safe and indiscriminatory. Remaining vigilant is the best that contemporary techno-critics can do, alongside implementing plans to counter reactionary indoctrination.

If I was to give a definition of algorithmic criticism, I would direct someone to Cathy O’Neill’s to hear what she has to say about it. But, if I had to put it into my own words, I’d say it’s looking for the unbiased truth in algorithms. O’Neill’s TED talk was all about how algorithms are biased and how we can make our own algorithms with our own success. Scholars, such as O’Neill, have advised us (non-data scientists) to “demand accountability” from those data scientists who control the algorithms in our society. Those data scientists are the ones who set up the basic algorithms of the world, the algorithms that us, non-data scientists, have heard of, but they tend to turn out biased. The best thing to do is to try and avoid the biased algorithms and media that is presented to us.

Feminism impacted the 1930s by bringing to light the topic of equal treatment for women within the job force. More women had jobs during the ’30s, but the treatment they received was very different compared to the treatment men received. Another key thing to note that impacted the ’30s was the 19th Amendment passing and how some feminists believed their job was over. Women were elected to the Senate and FDR had women on his administration.³

In my opinion, I would say there are a few connections to draw between WPA-era activists and those today. Slavery/discrimination was an issue back during WPA and it’s still an issue today. I think today it’s much more prominent and the issues go deeper than those back then. People have more of an eye on biased situations compared to back then. Digital activists can spot bias quicker than WPA-era activists, especially in Noble’s article, Algorithms of Oppression. ⁴ The fact that digital activists were able to spot discrimination online through search engines blew my mind. It was something I would’ve never thought would show any kind of bias or discrimination, but I was wrong.

I believe techno-critics and algorithmic critics are applying the same ideas. They both are identifying bias’ and attacking them. They’re trying to encourage people to notice them as well and find ways to stop them. It’s a really interesting movement they’ve started by pointing out bias on search engines and other forms of technology, it really shows how much more we really need to progress to finally meet equality.

Moran, Mickey. 1930s, America – Feminist Void? Accessed October 20, 2019. http://people.loyno.edu/~history/journal/1988-9/moran.htm.

Noble, Safiya Umoja. Algorithms of Oppression: How Search Engines Reinforce Racism. New York: New York University Press., 2018.

Algorithmic Criticism is essentially math with an opinion according to Cathy O’Neil in her video, “The Truth about Algorithms.” ⁵.The algorithms that we, as humans, create, are embedded with biases that we may not be intentionally programming in. Algorithms are capable of having all types of biases including racism, sexism, and many other inequalities we can see in our culture today. ⁶ However, many professional institutions are trying to steer artificial intelligence away from the biases and inequalities, and towards a better and more equal path. Most of the institutions working on equaling artificial intelligence have even called for, “more fairness, accountability, and transparency,” (Matsakis, WIRED) in regards to new developments in artificial intelligence.

During Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s presidency, women’s labor legislations became more protected. In the Supreme Court case, West Coast Hotel Co. v. Parrish, with Franklin D. Roosevelt’s influence, Washington State’s minimum wage legislation was upheld as constitutional. This paved the way for more protected labor legislations for both women and men. Eleanor Roosevelt was one of the largest voices for women in the 1930’s. She was a very visible and vocal part of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s administration. Eleanor was always by her husband’s side. She constantly supported FDR throughout his presidency, not only with his administrative decisions, but also his lasting struggles from his severe case of polio. FDR also supported her. He fought for women’s rights and believed in equality for men and women. Eleanor Roosevelt surrounded herself with hardworking and trustworthy women. She brought women, other than the first lady, into the Whitehouse and into the United States government. Eleanor became a role model for every little girl growing up in 1930’s America. Even today people still look up to her and believe in the things she stood for. She is one of many important women to fight for women’s rights early on in the history of the United States. Even through Eleanor’s efforts for equality and FDR’s contributions to women’s rights, we can till see these inequalities and biases today. Our culture today practically runs on algorithms. However, these algorithms show these inequalities and biases that FDR and Eleanor wanted to stop.

Lewis, Jone Johnson. “Slow and Steady: Women’s Changing Roles in 1930s America.” ThoughtCo, ThoughtCo, 6 Oct. 2019, www.thoughtco.com/womens-rights-1930s-4141164.

Matsakis, Louise. “What Does a Fair Algorithm Actually Look Like?” Wired, Conde Nast, 14 Feb. 2019, www.wired.com/story/what-does-a-fair-algorithm-look-like/?GuidesLearnMore.

Algorithms aren’t perfect, and scholars have been criticizing them for being too broad or biased to be relied upon as much as we do today.  Cathy O’Neill mentions that algorithms can be described as “Opinions imbedded in math”. ⁹ Due to this, opinions that are different to the one who wrote the algorithm or control the algorithm can be snuffed out and ignored.  Some scholars have suggested that we push for understanding how the powers that control the algorithms work.  This way, we as consumers can avoid using Google, and other search engines in a way that promote these racially or sexually motivated search terms, as mentioned in Noble’s paper on the subject. ¹⁰

In the 1930s, society was undergoing intense societal change due to the Great Depression, and because of this feminism and in general the whole popular front became popular.  The popular front was made up of radicals that can range from communists to people advocating for racial desegregation.  Some folk singers, such as Woody Guthrie were associated with the communists, and it’s reflected in their songs. 

Feminists were also a part of the popular front, and they had their own impact on society back then.  Due to the lack of money, women began to work for themselves instead of relying on their men for money.  This in turn began to change the way society saw certain professions and allowed women to become more independent.  Later, when the US joined WWII, women in the industrial sector became much more common, which shows that during this time, women working in clothing factories and farms changed the way America saw working class women.

There can be connections drawn between the WPA-era activists and modern activists in a couple of ways.  For one, both activists are fighting for racial and sexual equalities in the US using art to express their ideas.  Woody Guthrie is a great inspiration to many later artists that fight for civil liberties.  Feminists are also still fighting today, what they had to fight in the 1930s.  Gender norms are being changed, and workplaces are being filled with women, rather than just men.  Women are no longer just stay at home moms, but rather they create their own businesses and careers, which seems to be a logical progression from what the feminists fought for back in the 1930s.

Algorithmic criticism is when people look at algorithms and discover the bias’ that exist within the algorithm. Algorithms themselves don’t have bias’ but the people that create them do, so often times people don’t realize the racism or sexism that is apparent in their work ¹⁴. Many scholars and activists suggest that people go more in depth into their research and don’t just blindly trust what your device tells you. 

The Long Civil Rights Movement (LCRM) impacted the 1930’s because it paved the way for the civil rights movement in the 1960’s by beginning the start of trying to get black people’s rights, even though a lot white people felt like they didn’t want black people to have equal rights, but they were sympathetic towards them. The actions of the 1930’s movement are what made our society today. The WPA-activists are what led to the civil rights movement in the ‘60s, which granted many people of color rights, and continues to inspire many people today. Discrimination in the New Deal programs brought civil rights to the forefront  of American politics and it continues to this day to be a defining cause in many politicians campaigns ¹⁵. 

WPA-activists and contemporary digital activists are similar in that they fight against something that is very ingrained into society that many people don’t realize. Until people of color protested how they were treated in the New Deal, nobody except them realized what was happening. People today don’t realize how racist and sexist a lot of algorithms are until people like Safiya Noble point it out and how we often don’t go very in depth into our internet research and just take the first results at first glance. I think a lot of the contemporary techno- and algorithmic critics are using some of the same tactics as WPA-activists of speaking out and I think people are also reacting in the same way. When the WPA activists pointed out the racism in the New Deal and how people of color were treated in society, a lot of white people agreed but didn’t want to do anything about it, and it’s the same way here. When people learn about bias in algorithms, many are sympathetic but don’t want to change how they do research.