What Algorithms Want: Imagination in the Age of Computing by Ed Finn. Ed is an associate professor at Arizona State University’s School for the Future of Innovation in Society and the School of Arts, Media and Engineering. He also serves as the academic director of Future Tense, a partnership between ASU, New America, and Slate Magazine.
I really appreciate reading this book as a follow up to The AI Delusion. What Algorithms Want takes a liberal arts approach. This is very appealing and brings a valued perspective.
Ed is communicating that society innocently believes magical algorithms as a tool to a better life. For this purpose, Ed shares that Eric Schmidt indicated that people do not want Google to just provide search results. Rather, they “want Google to tell them what they should be doing next.” I find this difficult to believe.
However, Ed also is viewing this from a practical perspective. His view is that algorithms are not only for mathematical logic, but rather for philosophy, cybernetics, and creative thinking.
Accordingly, there is a gap that Ed identifies between theoretical ideas and pragmatic instructions. This is a view outside of traditional computer science books.
Clearly, most users are not aware of how Facebook’s timeline and Google search queries are executions that benefit their data collection and profits. Many would not even consider the impact of Facebook’s timeline as nothing more than the latest news from friends, when in reality it is far from that idea.
Machine Learning
What Algorithms Want takes a deeper dive on Google’s efforts to drive profits from the data mining services across every service they deploy. What is also emphasized is the automatic assumptions by society that Google has their own interests protected because of a flimsy “do no evil” pledge.
Hey Siri
In addition, Ed writes a thought provoking look at the role of Siri as an algorithmic virtual assistant. Within Chapter Two: Building the Star Trek Computer, is the impact of bringing algorithms into our personal space. He takes a deeper dive into Google’s efforts to drive profits from the data mining services across every cloud service they deploy:
If Siri’s quest to become an “intelligent assistant” seems ambitious, Google’s efforts at the cutting edge of algorithmic culture are even more sweeping. Already the company is involved in a huge portion of activity online: in 2013, Google generated 25 percent of all Internet traffic in the United States directly, and roughly 60 percent of all devices on the Internet exchanged data with Google servers on any given day.
p. 65
What Algorithms Want certainly documents how society accepts AI data automatically. Google has their data protected by a worn out, flimsy “don’t be evil” pledge within Google’s Code of Conduct.
In addition, most users are not aware of how Facebook’s timeline and Google search queries are executions that benefit their data collection (and resale) efforts. Many would not even consider the impact of Facebook’s timeline as nothing more than the latest news from friends, when in reality it is far from that idea.
At the same time, it very clear big data can reveal negative effects.
One man received a mailer from OfficeMax revealingly addressed to him with the suffix “daughter killed in car crash.”
p. 109
The Netflix effect
Chapter three, House of Cards: The Aesthetics of Abstraction, is a great examination of Netflix’s algorithms. As a result, launching House of Cards provided Netflix with a deep data collection of user data. This segment on Netflix is certainly worth the price of admission. The insights data driven decisions by Netflix are stunning considering this book’s 2017 publication date.
In conclusion, What Algorithms Want is certainly a refreshing view of algorithms. Ed takes a well researched view of AI in common society. Historical views of Siri and Netflix are extremely well written.
Virtual Futures | What Algorithms Want
New America | What Algorithms Want
Arizona State CVMST | Edward Finn