RYAN HOOVER
Read the Faculty Introduction here.
In the spring of 2014 in Fort Lauderdale, Brisha Borden and Vernon Prater were both charged on separate counts of petty theft for $80 worth of goods. They were both assigned algorithmically generated risk assessment numbers on a scale of 1-10 by the local police to determine the likelihood of criminal re-offenses. One-time misdemeanor offender Borden received a 9 (high risk), while convicted armed robber Prater received a 3 (low risk). If it is true that the internet has such innovative technologies, like predictive algorithms, then how are there such wide discrepancies in various groups’ experiences with such technologies? In her 1985 piece “Cyborg Manifesto,” Donna Haraway examines the tensions between technology and race, gender, and societal status. In Jenna Wortham’s 2016 article “How an Archive of the Internet Could Change History,” she looks at the potential of the internet as an equalizer for marginalized groups. Both Haraway and Wortham believe that the internet and similar technologies are an impetus for the enrichment of the human/cyborg kind. However, their hopes are overly idealistic as they overlook two key obstacles. First, they neglect the reality that internet access is asymmetrical given physical and societal barriers. Second, they overlook the fact that internet infrastructure itself is racially biased due to the underrepresentation of people of color in the development and testing of algorithms.
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