Technology has snuck into nearly every part of our lives, from electronic medical records to online bill-pay systems to apps that remember which craft beers you’ve tasted. We usually think of this technology as a tool, something as indifferent as a hammer or a ruler. But in a world where algorithms decide which version of the news you read or when you should turn left, pretending our software is detached is naive—or even dangerous. So, when so few technologists (that’s us) are creating software for use by so many (that’s nearly everyone else in the world), how can we do right by them? What responsibility do we have to use our skills for good? And how can we get this right when humans beings insist on being so varied and complicated and, well… human?

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Daevid Vincent at 15:41 on 8 Sep 2017

I almost thought about sleeping in a bit more to skip this -- I'm so glad I did not. This was a very insightful talk and honestly one the best I've seen so far at this conference. I like the bit on "Inadvertent Algorithmic Cruelty". I quite identified with that as FB seems to always send me photos of an ex g.f. of mine every year... like people suffering from an unknown disease, at least now I can put a name to this back-stabbing, knife-twisting, salt-rubbing time of the year "memory"... Let the healing begin. HAHAHAH :p

Interesting point of view, something we just forget this is for 'persons' when we create programs and not just users.