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Illustration of algorithmic objectivity

Illustration of algorithmic objectivity, generated in ImageFX

Computing discussion topic

May 23, 2025

Something to discuss with your students...

Objectivity and bias in algorithms

As a preamble, permit me to begin with this quote from Jamie McKenzie’s Questioning Toolkit. It was published in 1997, which probably sounds like the =Dark Ages, and wasn’t especially focused on education technology. It is still a great source of ideas and inspiration though.

"When inspired by a desire to understand the Truth, Provocative Questions play a positive role in debunking propaganda, mythologies, hype, bandwagons and the Big Lie. They help us to remove the "bunk" or "claptrap" and determine if there is any substance worth considering. In a time of what Toffler calls "info-tactics" such questions become an essential tool for any citizen in a democratic society.

In an age of info-glut and info-garbage, we must equip students with questions which enable them to separate out meaning from all the competing variants of BLATHER (quoted here from Roget's Thesaurus). . .

empty talk, idle speeches, sweet nothings, endearments, wind, gas, hot air, vaporing, verbiage, DIFFUSENESS

rant, ranting and raving, bombast, fustian, rodomontade, BOASTING

blether, blather, blah-blah-blah, flimflam

guff, hogwash, eyewash, claptrap, poppycock, FABLE

humbug, FALSEHOOD

malarkey, hokum, bunkum, bunk, baloney, hooey

flummery, blarney, FLATTERY

sales talk, patter, sales patter, spiel

talk, chatter, prattle, prating, yammering, babble, gabble, jabber, jibber jabber, jaw, yackety-yak, yak yak, rhubarb, CHATTER"

Now on to algorithms…

People who know about programming know that programming isn't as objective as it may appear to be.

Here's an interesting article that makes that point:

Technology is neither magical nor neutral

That article was published in 2016. Interestingly, it contains the sentence:

“Algorithms, strangely enough, are written by humans. ”
— Gerry McGovern

Of course, that is not necessarily the case any more, because AI can do a lot, if not all, of the heavy lifting. But is the basic point still apposite? After all, an AI-written algorithm is, surely, a human-written one at one remove?

Is the article accurate? Does it matter?

In Computing, News & views, Discussion topic, AI Tags discussion, algorithms, bias, objectivity, AI, Artificial Intelligence
← Collective nostalgia about computer programming22 reasons that education technology projects fail →
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