Cognotes 2019 Annual Conference Highlights - 14

14

COGNOTES

ALAANNUAL.ORG/MOBILE-APP|#ALAAC19

HIGHLIGHTS

(left photo) Rebecca Makkai
receives the 2019 Andrew
Carnegie Medal for Excellence
in Fiction for The Great
Believers, published by Viking,
an imprint of Penguin Random
House. "The written and
spoken word are our greatest
weapon," she said in her
acceptance speech.
(right photo) Kiese Laymon,
winner of the 2019 Andrew
Carnegie Medal for Excellence
in Nonfiction for Heavy: An
American Memoir, published by
Scribner, an imprint of Simon
& Schuster, accepted his medal
Saturday night, which he then
presented to his mother; "This
is the person who deserves it."

Meredith Broussard on Why
Technology Isn't Always the Answer
By Elizabeth Uchimura, Florida State University

Attendees show their support during the Libraries = Strong Communities
National Library Tour Rally & Celebration in The Park @ ALA in the Exhibit Hall
on June 22.

The ALA Council gathers for a group photo..

Meredith Broussard, associate professor at
New York University and author of Artificial
Unintelligence: How Computers Misunderstand
the World, spoke at the Library Information
Technology Association (LITA) President's
Program June 23. In Artificial Unintelligence,
Broussard confronts the idea that technology
is inherently better, and argues for a mindset
that opts for the most inclusive tool for the
situation, whether or not that is a new piece
of technology. She used machine learning as
the lens through which to understand this
concept, explaining how humans perpetuate
their own biases through the technology that
they create.
Machine learning, put simply, takes an
input of data, uses a computer to construct
a model, or functional rule to be applied to
the data, and gives an output of a result on
the other side. Then, the model can be used
to answer similar questions or perform similar functions on other types of data. While

this process can seem objective, Broussard
stresses that "people embed their own biases
in technology." She displayed pictures of
the core group of people largely responsible
for the way technology is viewed today,
pointing out their commonalities: white,
male, Ivy League-educated mathematicians.
When there is no diversity in the creation

In Artificial
Unintelligence,
Broussard confronts the
idea that technology is
inherently better, and
argues for a mindset
that opts for the most
inclusive tool for the
situation, whether or
not that is a new piece
of technology.
of technology, the same unconscious biases
continue and compound.
Hollywood depictions of the Terminator
and intelligent robots give machine learning
a reputation as a mysterious monolith that
cannot be understood. This leads to a phenomenon Broussard calls "tech chauvinism" or "the
idea that computers are better than people."
In reality, Broussard said, machine learning
is "just math," which makes it much more
manageable. It also means that it is less capable
because "math can't do some things, and that's
okay." It is more important to use the right tool
for the situation than to push new technology
that might not be as helpful. Broussard noted,
"Sometimes when we think we're being liberating, we're actually being oppressive."
By confronting the assumptions behind
technology creation and use, a more diverse
and complex picture emerges that promotes
solutions that work for more diverse people.
Broussard closed with a charge to the audience: "When using machine learning models,
we're creating a world as it is. But I want us
to think about models where we can create a
world as it should be."
Broussard is researching how we will "read
today's news on tomorrow's computers" and is
looking into the necessity of human intervention in the digital archival process.
https://2019.alaannual.org/mobile-appi#alaac18
Cognotes 2019 Annual Conference Highlights

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Cognotes 2019 Annual Conference Highlights
