CIHR Event Inspires Discussions about the Ethics of Algorithms

During a two-day event CIHR brought together leading experts from academia, technology and civil society to discuss the ethical dimensions of algorithms.

The exchanges initiated during the Ethics of Algorithms event in Berlin helped to deepen our understanding of the way algorithms govern our lives now and refine questions for future research. Discussions in Berlin will feed into the discussions at the Global Conference on Cyberspace, which will take place in the Hague on 16 and 17 April 2015.

Several participants shared their summaries and insights from the event. According to Mathias Weber, the author of a blog Beyond Silicon Valley: “It is high time to leave an observing standpoint as a society and take on our responsibility as creators, critics and academics”.

Beatrice Martini adds in her blogpost: “It’s clear that we need a new and multi-disciplinary understanding of how the Internet and the algorithms keeping it in motion work, and what does this mean from a global, intersectional perspective. It’s a matter of human rights, and exercise of power, and it’s crucial for our societies to work eagerly on underlining that freedom of expression, plurality and privacy are fundamental rights we all need to fight for and defend.”

Florian Gilberg writes for Netzpolitik.org (in German): “For businesses or intelligence agencies, the ethical dimension of this automatic decision-making is often not an issue. The debate about the dangers and opportunities of these formulas is still nascent. The Ethics of Algorithm conference this week gave it a strong impetus.”

For more information:

– Input from participants under Twitter hashtag #EOA2015

– Keynote speech by Zeynep Tufekci: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7exygaylmY

– Interview with Ben Wagner for Deutschland Radio Kultur: http://breitband.deutschlandradiokultur.de/der-code-kennt-keine-moral/

– Netzpolitik.org Youtube video: Zeynep Tufekci about the ethics of algorithms and Keynote of the 2nd Day https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7exygaylmY

– Beyondsiliconvalley “The Ethics of Algorithms: A Human Debate on Machine Code in Berlin” by Matthias Weber http://bit.ly/1HWQtyz

– Beatricemartini.it “The Ethics of Algorithms: notes, emerging questions and resources” http://beatricemartini.it/blog/eoa2015/

– Netzpolitik.org “Über die ethische Dimension von Algorithmen – Zeynep Tufekci und die Konferenz #EOA2015” by Florian Gilberg http://bit.ly/1AS3WBP

More on CIHR’s Ethics of Algorithms project.