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An algorithm is a defined, ordered and finite set of simple operations that can be used to find the solution to a problem. Each algorithm begins in an initial state with a set of specific data, and during the process each step is clear and shows no ambiguity. If the algorithms are deployed in combination with data or signals from their environment to make decisions independently from them and learn from them, this is called artificial intelligence (AI). This mimics the thinking capabilities of humans (Ismail, 2018).

Today, AI is widely used in various sectors of our information society. Unfortunately, the algorithms often contain pre-programmed biases. This is mainly because data is used that is not representative of different population groups in society. If data from certain groups is not entered, then the system cannot recognize it. The creators who develop the systems can, by consciously or unconsciously entering certain data, influence the system, which can result in discrimination and racism (Chambers, 2021). Examples include that communities of color pay 30% more for auto insurance premiums than white communities with similar accident costs. In addition, it was found that in New York, black and Hispanic students were half as likely to be admitted to top schools as white and Asian students. Furthermore, at some universities, black students were labeled “high risk” up to four times more often than white students. Moreover, black defendants are as much as 77% more likely to receive a higher risk score than white defendants in the criminal justice system (Public Citizen, 2021).

To change this, there need to be transparency and accountability in artificial intelligence (AI) from companies and the government. It is important to track why certain decisions were made, this could be to gender, socioeconomic status, immigration status, ethnicity, nationality, sexuality, ability, and more. The focus should be more on the sociocultural content in which concepts such as ethics, privacy and fairness appear. Furthermore, the creators of the algorithms should have diverse backgrounds and the data used should be representative of all populations. It is extremely important that this change will happen, since artificial intelligence has the potential to have an even greater impact on our daily lives (Richters & Haasdijk, 2022).

References

Public Citizen (17 August 2021). Report: Algorithms Are Worsening Racism, Bias, Discrimination [Online]. Retrieved from https://www.citizen.org/news/report-algorithms-are-worsening-racism-bias-discrimination/

Richters, H. and Haasdijk, E. (2022). De inzet van betrouwbare en transparante AI binnen de overheid, Deloitte [Online]. Retrieved from https://www2.deloitte.com/nl/nl/pages/publieke-sector/articles/verantwoord-omgaan-met-ai-en-data.html

Ismail, K. (26 October, 2018). AI vs. Algorithms: What’s the Difference?, CMSWire [Online]. Retrieved from https://www.cmswire.com/information-management/ai-vs-algorithms-whats-the-difference/

Chambers, J. (22 December 2021). Can Algorithms be Racist?, Towards Data Science [Online]. Retrieved from https://towardsdatascience.com/can-algorithms-be-racist-6dddf8d69065

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At the 2021 Facebook Connect event, Mark Zuckerberg shared his vision of the future that included “the evolution of the mobile Internet” in the form of the “Metaverse”. This is a collective virtual space in which people are able to play games, work and interact with others, oftentimes by using virtual reality (VR). The users wield a photorealistic avatar, a digital persona, which can be linked to their identity (Brodsky, 2022). With this, a long-standing dream of Mr. Zuckerberg may become a reality; at Facebook’s launch, he hoped that one day a Facebook account could be used as a digital passport. A key question at the time was what the Metaverse will mean for privacy. Especially since the company was under fire for scandals it was embroiled in and for leaking sensitive documents. Now, a year after Facebook changed its name to “Meta”, there is considerable persistent skepticism (Mac et al., 2022). Increasingly, Google and Apple operating systems are cutting off access to users’ personal data. Through the Metaverse, Facebook attempts to collect personal data in its own environment. These include facial expressions and moods that can be read through VR glasses. In addition, reality lab cameras are also incorporated into the VR glasses to scan users’ surroundings. Using this, Mr. Zuckerberg wants to ensure that everyone is filmed at every moment and, most importantly, they feel safe doing so. All this to prevent his “fairy tale internet” from being dismissed as a privacy nightmare (Feld, 2022).

There is also skepticism among the employees themselves, stating that “if we don’t love the product we’ve built so much that we use it all the time, how can we expect our users to love it?” In response to this, Mr. Zuckerberg came out with a clear message that you either get on board or get out. Since then, meetings have again been conducted in the Metaverse’s provisional app, Horizon Workrooms, but because the team was thwarted by technical glitches they ended up using Zoom (Mac et al., 2022). It is clear that much remains to be done if the Metaverse wants to take its prominent place as a communication tool in the future. Major systematic errors should be taken out, real-time data synchronization should be optimized, VR technologies should become cheaper, and many difficulties for the metaverse’s designers should be fixed. If that is all fixed, the question remains whether there is a demand for it.. as yet we are still at the “throw money at a wall and see what sticks” stage (Thornhill, 2022).

References

Brodsky, S. (6 October 2022). The Metaverse Probably Won’t Be All That We’ve Been Promised, Lifewire. [Online]. Retrieved from https://www.lifewire.com/the-metaverse-probably-wont-be-all-that-weve-been-promised-experts-say-6747794

Feld, H. (7 October 2022). Why The Future Of The Metaverse May Lie In The FCC’s Hands, Forbes. [Online]. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2022/10/07/why-the-future-of-the-metaverse-may-lie-in-the-fccs-hands/?sh=4dfb8ae12b6e

Mac, R., Frenkel S., Roose, K. (9 October, 2022). Skepticism, Confusion, Frustration: Inside Mark Zuckerberg’s Metaverse Struggles. The New York Times [Online]. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/09/technology/meta-zuckerberg-metaverse.html

Thornhill, J. (13 October, 2022). The metaverse revolution may yet devour Meta, Financial Times. [Online]. Retrieved from https://www.ft.com/content/d39db54e-e1a6-4938-9b5c-b0bd41a41907