In this context it means something specific, and people understand it. Algorithm as a word has moved far beyond computer science contexts.
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What is the specific thing it means that people uniformly understand?
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Complex computational decision making that affects them, that’s opaque, not either under their control, accountable or transparent although consequential. It’s not all about how to color a map with four colors with no adjacencies.
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The word evolved the way it evolved. It means more than what it meant. A perspectivist critique based on its previous meaning obscures the issue. I run into this all the time with technical people. Objecting to word evolution is both a fight one can’t win, also not useful.
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That's funny, I think of you is a technical person. Or at least, one who is technically competent.
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I suspect the definition in this case includes something like, "run by powerful people who are unchecked and may not have my best interests at heart." which, if so, would be quite a burden to put on one word.
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I think these concerns map very well onto concerns about databases a generation ago. They might mis-spell your name, or you might share a name with a criminal, and you could never reach a human to override the mistake, and you’d get ground up by people obeying the computer.
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Replying to @benedictevans @qhardy and
Donna Haraway had a good term for such words/concepts: "power objects." They're things that are perceived to be important/powerful yet very poorly understood. As a result, they become buckets for many anxieties and hopes. (Past examples include: DNA, PET scans, etc.)
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Indeed. The fact that existing anxieties are often poorly-formulated doesn’t mean that the object/new knowledge is all fine and/or no threat. The anxiety can be about a genuinely potent dynamic, but it may be expressed incoherently or be very wrong in specifics.
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