Futurity

How big data and unfair algorithms change our lives

The digital trails we leave behind and algorithms that use our data have major effects on our lives. This podcast episode digs into issues of fairness and privacy.
A person wearing a jean jacket and a short haircut in profile uses their laptop at a cafe table against a white wall

On a daily basis, we each leave behind a huge digital footprint in all sorts of ways, researchers say.

“Everything I do on the computer or smartphone is public to a certain extent,” says Hoda Heidari, a computer scientist at ETH Zurich. Algorithms can use that data to make real decisions about our lives, from bank loans to prison time.

In this podcast episode, Heidari and Elliott Ash, a professor of law, economics, and data science, talk about our digital trails. They also explain how big data is changing the world and our perceptions, why governments are still lagging behind this transformation, and how algorithms can learn and become fairer in the process.

Source: ETH Zurich

The post How big data and unfair algorithms change our lives appeared first on Futurity.

More from Futurity

Futurity4 min read
Mom’s Immune Status Changes With How She Feeds Baby
The immune status of postpartum mothers shifts with how she feeds her baby, a new study finds. According to the paper published in the journal Scientific Reports, certain inflammatory proteins—substances that are secreted as part of an immune respons
Futurity3 min read
How Childhood Trauma Affects Adults Later
Some people assume we forget or outgrow trauma. But the truth is, if someone experiences trauma as a child, it can lead to physical and mental struggles that affect their entire life. Here, Thomas O’Connor, director of the Wynne Center for Family Res
Futurity4 min read
Why Parrotlets Adopt (or Kill) Their Rivals’ Babies
Competition over love and real estate drives two extreme behaviors in green-rumped parrotlets, a new study finds—either caring for or killing one another’s babies. Infanticide and adoption in the animal kingdom have long puzzled scientists. While bot

Related Books & Audiobooks