Algorithmic Scapegoating

Algorithm scapegoating = blaming an ”algorithm” for a social problem instead of attributing the blame appropriately to humans. This is often done with some vague and incorrect notion of ”algorithm”, not specifying what algorithm and how exactly the algorithm was at fault at carrying out its task. This misattribution is often associated with not properly understanding the task of the algorithm that is typically to run objective calculations from a source data, not perform any decisions that have societal consequences. Hence, algorithms are attributed too much responsibility instead of perceiving them as what they really are: tools that conduct mathematical operations. #data #algorithms #scapegoating