October 31, 2016

009 For the Love of Algorithms – For the Love of Data

35 minutes

Worst Pun Ever: Today, we are talking about Al… Al Gore… Al Gore Rhythms… Algorithms!

Definition: a step-by-step procedure for solving a problem or accomplishing some end especially by a computer1

Inputs:

Many algorithms use census data or FICO score as one of their prime inputs

Plus any custom information you give a website

Plus any information they glean about you from other sites (when you visit a site with a Facebook Share button, Facebook can track that you’re there17)

Websites are constantly looking at ways to break our anonymity (fingerprinting) so they can track us and serve us more relevant or lucrative ads5.

Fun Stuff

Chess – algorithms are so good that humans haven’t been able to beat a 4- CPU PC since about 20056

Rubik’s Cube – the machine record is 0.887 seconds vs. just over 5 seconds for a human7

Poker – scientists solved all moves for Heads Up Limit Hold ‘Em – 3.16 x 10^17 moves. You may be able to win individual games, but it is HIGHLY unlikely that you can win over time8

Machine Learning

Can include intentional or unintentional bias.

@JonathonMorgan did a post on Medium and a podcast on Partially Derivative about using a machine learning model to find alt-right white supremacists on Twitter and track their degree of radicalization over time. He did this by training a model with their tweets and analyzing their usage of words like “Jewish” vs. more mainstream usage3,4.

– From Medium / Jonathon Morgan’s Post

Pricing2:

Amazon lists its results over competitors, even when higher including shipping for non-prime customers; however, it claims it’s algorithm is customer-centric

Princeton Review charges between $6,600 and $8,400 for its online course in some zip codes. It charged higher in zip codes with higher incomes and some with higher Asian populations.

News/Search:

Link Analysis, how two entities relate to each other is used by Google’s PageRank, Facebook’s News Feed, and LinkedIn’s job/connection recommendations. It was developed in 1976 and first used by two other search indexes before Google began using it in 1998.13

However, algorithms cause sites to cater to information similar to your preexisting views, or for what they think you will find interesting, rather than presenting balanced, holistic content.14

Medium recommends articles based on how long it thinks you will read.

Some sites tailor related content, content types (video, etc.), and sharing buttons based on where you enter their site from.

These choices and filters can lead you into a content bubble that leads you down a path of more and more specific, and sometimes extreme, viewpoints.

Facebook uses hundreds of features, or input variables, when assigning a relevancy score to posts you see in your news feed.15

When you have a Facebook account and you visit a page that has a like or share button, Facebook can log your visit and use that to tailor content or ads when you visit their site.16 See here17 for a relatively up-to-date list of features used in Facebook’s newsfeed algorithm (time spent viewing, friend’s posts receive priority, likes/reactions, etc. are all key inputs).

Serious Consequences

Some algorithms for car insurance weight FICO credit scores higher than drunk driving convictions.9,10,11

Cathy O’Neil calls them “Weapons of Math Destruction” (WMDs) if they are: widespread, secretive, and have the potential to do great harm9,10

Kronos, a small big data HR company hired by large firms to screen applicants employs a personality test as part of their screening of candidates. Some argue that this unfairly excludes them from jobs, with no explanation of the reason, in a manner that violates the American’s with Disabilities Act (ADA).9,10,12

Theme Music: Algorithm of Desire by Measles Mumbs Rubella, courtesy of FreeMusicArchive.

Sources:

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/algorithm

https://www.propublica.org/article/breaking-the-black-box-when-algorithms-decide-what-you-pay

http://partiallyderivative.com/podcast/2016/09/27/s2e14-the-model-is-racist

https://medium.com/@jonathonmorgan/the-radical-right-and-the-threat-of-violence-f66288ac8c4#.kssqef9jz

http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/internet-tracking-has-moved-beyond-cookies/

http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/196554-a-new-computer-chess-champion-is-crowned-and-the-continued-demise-of-human-grandmasters

http://gizmodo.com/in-just-0-887-seconds-another-machine-has-already-shatt-1758009774

http://bigthink.com/ideafeed/computer-scientists-create-unbeatable-poker-playing-computer

http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/whos-accountable-when-an-algorithm-makes-a-bad-decision/

https://weaponsofmathdestructionbook.com/

https://www.wired.com/2016/10/big-data-algorithms-manipulating-us/

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2016/sep/01/how-algorithms-rule-our-working-lives

https://medium.com/@_marcos_otero/the-real-10-algorithms-that-dominate-our-world-e95fa9f16c04#.8mczwtxzt

http://www.cjr.org/news_literacy/algorithms_filter_bubble.php

http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/cover_story/2016/01/how_facebook_s_news_feed_algorithm_works.html

https://www.technologyreview.com/s/541351/facebooks-like-buttons-will-soon-track-your-web-browsing-to-target-ads/

https://blog.bufferapp.com/facebook-news-feed-algorithm

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By For the Love of Data