VIDEO
- Youtube - GBH Forum Network
(2017)
WGBHForum, 2017: "In her award-winning book, Weapons of Math Destruction: How Big Data Increases Inequality and Threatens Democracy (2016), Cathy O'Neil shares several examples of how predictive tests and scoring mechanisms can seriously damage someone's life. The example she offers here shows how the scoring from personality tests, often used in the hiring process, can exclude entire groups of people. Sponsored by Microsoft Research's Social Media Collective and Harvard University's Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society
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Summary:
The Video is about the dangers of using personality tests in the hiring process. It looks at how these tests can be used by employers to unfairly exclude or discriminate against certain groups, such as those with mental health issues. Cathy O'Neil argues that algorithms can embed hidden agendas which can create unfair feedback loops and lead to systemic discrimination. She gives the example of Kyle Beam who failed his personality test, even though he met all the qualifications for a job, due to his history of mental illness. She also uses the example of Roger Ailes and Bill O’Reilly, two men who were ousted from Fox News for sexual harassment allegations, as an example of how these hidden agendas can become destructive on a societal level. Finally she encourages her audience with a thought experiment about what would happen if Fox News used an algorithm in its hiring process instead and how it might still reproduce systemic discrimination without anyone noticing.
Keywords: Personality Tests, Unfair Exclusion, Discrimination, Mental Health Issues, Algorithms Hidden Agendas Feedback Loops Systemic Discrimination Kyle Beam Roger Ailes Bill O’Reilly Fox News Thought Experiment Hiring Process
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