Cloud Ethics: Algorithms and the Attributes of Ourselves and Others

by Louise Amoore

In Cloud Ethics Louise Amoore examines how machine learning algorithms are transforming the ethics and politics of contemporary society. Conceptualizing algorithms as ethicopolitical entities that are entangled with the data attributes of people, Amoore outlines how algorithms give incomplete accounts of themselves, learn through relationships with human practices, and exist in the world in ways that exceed their source code. In these ways, algorithms and their relations to people cannot be understood by simply examining their code, nor can ethics be encoded into algorithms. Instead, Amoore locates the ethical responsibility of algorithms in the conditions of partiality and opacity that haunt both human and algorithmic decisions. To this end, she proposes what she calls cloud ethics—an approach to holding algorithms accountable by engaging with the social and technical conditions under which they emerge and operate.

Genres: Technology, Philosophy, Nonfiction, Politics

221 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 1, 2020

Reviews

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

A refreshing book that contributes a lot to the debate on data ethics. It reads like a 188 page scientific paper so it’s no light-reading, but really worth your time!

If I had to summarize it in one sentence: Cloud Ethics considers algorithms as ethicopolitical entities that incorporate doubtfulness and are prone to error, as they can only speak in truths in relation to their ‘ground truths’.

It really opened my eyes on the impossibility of transparent algorithms, or the opening of black boxes, while maintaining a belief in the possibility of creating virtuous algorithms.

[Adèle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Idées intéressantes, mais j’aurais condensé le tout, surtout que c’était pas toujours évident à lire. Peut-être que c’est davantage destiné à des gens qui s’y connaissent moins en informatique.

[Steve · Rating 5 out of 5]

This original and fascinating book engages both the mathematical matter of algorithms and their political and philosophical aspects. Amoore criticizes the Luddite opposition to algorithms---particularly ones that target members of our society like immigrants and activists---while also acknowledging that the development and use of algorithms for political and economic gain entails ethicopolitical questions that involve us all.

[Kai]

Stuff you already know now wrapped in academic lingo; probably more interesting to hit up your intellectual software engineer friend and pry their mind and debate

[Louise · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent and rather unique approach to algorithms and ethics!