[kictanet] Is Facebook biased on its newsfeed?

Thu May 12 18:10:46 EAT 2016

I think there is a need to differential Machine Learning and Algorithms
fellows. Machine Learning is where the problem is :)

On Thu, May 12, 2016 at 5:55 PM, Ahmed Mohamed Maawy <
ultimateprogramer at gmail.com> wrote:

> Its not the algorithms Ali, its the Machine Learning process :)
>
> On Thu, May 12, 2016 at 5:42 PM, Ali Hussein <ali at hussein.me.ke> wrote:
>
>> Ahmed
>>
>> You obviously missed the story of the Microsoft algorithm that was taught
>> to behave like a racist.   :-)
>>
>> http://www.theverge.com/2016/3/24/11297050/tay-microsoft-chatbot-racist
>>
>> My point is that we do seem to forget that all these algorithms are
>> created by humans who have biases.
>>
>> Google is in trouble for deliberately skewing their algorithms to benefit
>> their own products. Not sure this is wrong but the European regulators seem
>> to think so to the extent of threatening them with a 10% of revenue fine..
>>
>> With great power comes great responsibility - so goes the adage..
>>
>> *Ali Hussein*
>> *Principal*
>> *Hussein & Associates*
>> +254 0713 601113 / 0770906375
>>
>> Twitter: @AliHKassim
>>
>> Skype: abu-jomo
>>
>> LinkedIn: http://ke.linkedin.com/in/alihkassim
>>
>>
>> "Discovery consists in seeing what everyone else has seen and thinking
>> what no one else has thought".  ~ Albert Szent-Györgyi
>>
>> Sent from my iPad
>>
>> On 12 May 2016, at 5:20 PM, Ahmed Mohamed Maawy <
>> ultimateprogramer at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> There are a number of elements at play here:
>>
>>    1. Obviously to a great degree this algorithm has massively helped
>>    Facebook. Not that I am totally on their side, what I mean to say is that
>>    lets give credit where its due. Without this algorithm we would have seen
>>    massive fallout and loss of klout. This is something Twitter did not figure
>>    out so well. LinkedIn is still the place professionals like to hang out,
>>    but its not the place professionals like to stay. Just stating how it came
>>    to be that Facebook is air and air is life (so to speak).
>>    2. If truly there is a bias to all this (which I am yes, yet to
>>    comprehend how this bias is visible) it can mean 2 things:
>>       1. Either content producers are not building influence better than
>>       those who rank at the top. Or
>>       2. If not, there is a genuine market opportunity in this gap.
>>
>> But algorithms are algorithms, and my experience developing algorithms
>> tells me computer algorithms can not easily be twisted to lie, especially
>> in the field of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning.
>>
>> But these are all books on their own anyway.
>>
>> Just my 2 cents.
>>
>> On Thu, May 12, 2016 at 4:52 PM, Ali Hussein via kictanet <
>> kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:
>>
>>> Listers
>>>
>>> This mail is coped from the Fortune.com <http://fortune.com> Data Sheet.
>>>
>>> The “Trending” topics section of Facebook seems such a trivial thing,
>>> and in many ways it is. It looks and feels like an afterthought—ironically,
>>> it started as an attempt to copy Twitter
>>> <http://link.fortune.com/click/6706588.20757/aHR0cDovL3RlY2hjcnVuY2guY29tLzIwMTQvMDEvMTYvZmFjZWJvb2stdHJlbmRpbmcv/55ba80258cc2b2e72d8b457aBf20eece1>—and
>>> many users probably don’t even notice it’s there. But now, it has triggered
>>> a national discussion around bias and the power of social platforms.
>>>
>>> In case you missed the brouhaha, it started with a report from Gizmodo that
>>> profiled
>>> <http://link.fortune.com/click/6706588.20757/aHR0cDovL2dpem1vZG8uY29tL3dhbnQtdG8ta25vdy13aGF0LWZhY2Vib29rLXJlYWxseS10aGlua3Mtb2Ytam91cm5hbGlzdHMtMTc3MzkxNjExNw/55ba80258cc2b2e72d8b457aB4ee70a20>a
>>> team of anonymous journalists working at Facebook who curate the news that
>>> shows up in the Trending section. A subsequent report quoted one of the
>>> journalists as saying the team routinely removed certain
>>> <http://link.fortune.com/click/6706588.20757/aHR0cDovL2dpem1vZG8uY29tL2Zvcm1lci1mYWNlYm9vay13b3JrZXJzLXdlLXJvdXRpbmVseS1zdXBwcmVzc2VkLWNvbnNlci0xNzc1NDYxMDA2/55ba80258cc2b2e72d8b457aBf141c2b3> right-wing
>>> political sites from the section, even when the social network’s data
>>> showed they were trending.
>>>
>>> The revelation seemed harmless enough, at first: Journalists hired to
>>> edit things were actually editing them! But the comment soon snowballed
>>> into a debate over Facebook’s role in news consumption, and whether its
>>> sheer size and influence brings with it some level of responsibility.
>>>
>>> Facebook responded to the story
>>> <http://link.fortune.com/click/6706588.20757/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZmFjZWJvb2suY29tL3RzdG9ja3kvcG9zdHMvMTAxMDA4NTMwODIzMzc5NTg/55ba80258cc2b2e72d8b457aBf49ae890> by
>>> saying that its policy is to remain as neutral as possible editorially, and
>>> that it will look into reports of misbehavior. Then it issued a second,
>>> even more heartfelt response, after the Senate Commerce Committee sent
>>> a letter
>>> <http://link.fortune.com/click/6706588.20757/aHR0cDovL2dpem1vZG8uY29tL3NlbmF0ZS1nb3AtbGF1bmNoZXMtaW5xdWlyeS1pbnRvLWZhY2Vib29rLXMtbmV3cy1jdXJhdGktMTc3NTc2NzAxOA/55ba80258cc2b2e72d8b457aB1d911177> asking
>>> the company to answer some questions around political influence and the
>>> Trending section.
>>>
>>> The real issue, of course, isn’t the tiny section of the Facebook home
>>> page that follows trending topics. It’s the fact that the kind of editorial
>>> selection those journalists engaged in is happening every minute of every
>>> day on the main news feed, courtesy of the Facebook ranking algorithm. And
>>> that algorithm, since it is programmed by human beings, inevitably contains
>>> biases of all kinds.
>>>
>>> The bottom line is that Facebook is more than just a social network
>>> where people exchange photos of their pets—it is the largest and most
>>> influential
>>> <http://link.fortune.com/click/6706588.20757/aHR0cDovL3d3dy52b3guY29tLzIwMTYvNS8xMC8xMTY0MDE0MC9mYWNlYm9vay1tZWRpYS1pbmZsdWVuY2U/55ba80258cc2b2e72d8b457aBca65e309> media
>>> entity the world has ever seen. The sooner Facebook acknowledges that, and
>>> becomes part of the discussion around how it can manage its social
>>> responsibilities, the better off we will all be.
>>>
>>> *Ali Hussein*
>>> *Principal*
>>> *Hussein & Associates*
>>> +254 0713 601113 / 0770906375
>>>
>>> Twitter: @AliHKassim
>>>
>>> Skype: abu-jomo
>>>
>>> LinkedIn: http://ke.linkedin.com/in/alihkassim
>>>
>>>
>>> "Discovery consists in seeing what everyone else has seen and thinking
>>> what no one else has thought".  ~ Albert Szent-Györgyi
>>>
>>> Sent from my iPad
>>>
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>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> *Ahmed Maawy*
>> Executive Director - SwahiliBox / M-Power (CBO)
>> Ambassador - Open Knowledge
>> Director - Startup Grind Mombasa
>> Software Developer - AJ+ / EveryLayer
>> (KE) +254 714 960 627
>> Skype: ultimateprogramer
>>
>> swahilibox.co.ke
>> www.okfn.org <http://okfn.org/>
>> startupgrind.com
>> ajplus.net
>> www.everylayer.com
>>
>>
>
>
> --
> *Ahmed Maawy*
> Executive Director - SwahiliBox / M-Power (CBO)
> Ambassador - Open Knowledge
> Director - Startup Grind Mombasa
> Software Developer - AJ+ / EveryLayer
> (KE) +254 714 960 627
> Skype: ultimateprogramer
>
> swahilibox.co.ke
> www.okfn.org <http://okfn.org/>
> startupgrind.com
> ajplus.net
> www.everylayer.com
>

-- 
*Ahmed Maawy*
Executive Director - SwahiliBox / M-Power (CBO)
Ambassador - Open Knowledge
Director - Startup Grind Mombasa
Software Developer - AJ+ / EveryLayer
(KE) +254 714 960 627
Skype: ultimateprogramer

swahilibox.co.ke
www.okfn.org <http://okfn.org/>
startupgrind.com
ajplus.net
www.everylayer.com
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