Systemically Sinful Algorithms

The recent exposition of Facebook’s psychological experiments on it’s users raises of bevvy of questions related to the moral use of algorithms.

First off, here’s a quick primer on what an “algorithm” is as it relates to social media.

An algorithm is a complex mathematical formula who’s logic determines a multitude of things, such as – who’s posts – and – which advertisements – you see on your page, which friends are recommended to you, and which pages you should follow. These algorithms have access to untold amounts of data, often including which web pages you’ve visited recently,  what products you’ve been shopping for, and what you had for dinner. No joke on that last one. If you ordered dominoes online, it knows. The algorithm get’s this data from cookies stored on your web browser, massive internal databases, and third party marketing services. It’s been suggested recently, that your web browsing behavior is as unique as a fingerprint if you know what you’re looking for (think NSA).

I’d understand if you’re totally freaked out at this point, but bare in mind that none of this inherently represents a sin. It’s how this data is used that makes it sinful. After all, aid groups could use the very same data to target potential donors after a natural catastrophe, and they do!

Facebook recently revealed that’s it newsfeed algorithm considers 100 thousand factors. On one had, this has the potential to provide us with “organic” results that match our interests. On the other hand, it allows facebook to target advertisements like never before.

Companies wanting to modify user behavior is not a new phenomenon. McDonald’s used to only use bright yellows and reds in their interiors because you would feel happy at first, but it would quickly grate on you, getting you to leave and make room for the next person.

The difference between McDonalds and Facebook is that we can see what colors are painted on the walls, but we can’t see what’s in an algorithm. Even if we could, it would take a massive amount of technical knowledge to decipher an algorithm written by 100 expert programmers. This lack of transparency represents a power tech companies have over their users. Can we trust them not to abuse it?

In my opinion there are issues that could turn an algorithm sinful (or enable it to do good).

1. Choice

The more control the end user has, the better. We were born in the image of God and are called to do good according to our unique spiritual gifts. To limit or control of these algorithms is to deny the ways the Holy Spirit is working through us. Worse yet, a lack of choice can lead us to choose lesser, more sinful paths through our usage of social media.

2. Diversity

It’s hard to reconcile Diversity and Choice as affirmative action can attest to, but the truth is, that God works through others in mysterious ways. If we are not exposed to a wide array of opinions on an issue, we may miss what God is doing in the world, or worse, what God is calling US to do in the world. The is the Fox News/MSNBC phenomenon. If you only hear what you already believe, there will be no room left for God in the conversation.

3. Transparency

Why it’s impossible to explain the complex work of 100 expert programmers, it doesn’t mean that we can basic synopsis of what’s going on. Right now, social media outlets are so secretive about their algorithms, that we only find out about them through third party marketing firms with their own agendas. Further more, how hard would it be for them to give us a synopsis of why we got a particular post in our newsfeed. Facebook still lets us know when something is a “sponsored” post, but they’ve made it harder to find that information over time.

Here’s another good post on this subject.

 

 

 

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