4,710 research outputs found
Logics and practices of transparency and opacity in real-world applications of public sector machine learning
Machine learning systems are increasingly used to support public sector
decision-making across a variety of sectors. Given concerns around
accountability in these domains, and amidst accusations of intentional or
unintentional bias, there have been increased calls for transparency of these
technologies. Few, however, have considered how logics and practices concerning
transparency have been understood by those involved in the machine learning
systems already being piloted and deployed in public bodies today. This short
paper distils insights about transparency on the ground from interviews with 27
such actors, largely public servants and relevant contractors, across 5 OECD
countries. Considering transparency and opacity in relation to trust and
buy-in, better decision-making, and the avoidance of gaming, it seeks to
provide useful insights for those hoping to develop socio-technical approaches
to transparency that might be useful to practitioners on-the-ground.
An extended, archival version of this paper is available as Veale M., Van
Kleek M., & Binns R. (2018). `Fairness and accountability design needs for
algorithmic support in high-stakes public sector decision-making' Proceedings
of the 2018 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI'18),
http://doi.org/10.1145/3173574.3174014.Comment: 5 pages, 0 figures, presented as a talk at the 2017 Workshop on
Fairness, Accountability, and Transparency in Machine Learning (FAT/ML 2017),
Halifax, Canada, August 14, 201
Eavesdropping Whilst You're Shopping: Balancing Personalisation and Privacy in Connected Retail Spaces
Physical retailers, who once led the way in tracking with loyalty cards and
`reverse appends', now lag behind online competitors. Yet we might be seeing
these tables turn, as many increasingly deploy technologies ranging from simple
sensors to advanced emotion detection systems, even enabling them to tailor
prices and shopping experiences on a per-customer basis. Here, we examine these
in-store tracking technologies in the retail context, and evaluate them from
both technical and regulatory standpoints. We first introduce the relevant
technologies in context, before considering privacy impacts, the current
remedies individuals might seek through technology and the law, and those
remedies' limitations. To illustrate challenging tensions in this space we
consider the feasibility of technical and legal approaches to both a) the
recent `Go' store concept from Amazon which requires fine-grained, multi-modal
tracking to function as a shop, and b) current challenges in opting in or out
of increasingly pervasive passive Wi-Fi tracking. The `Go' store presents
significant challenges with its legality in Europe significantly unclear and
unilateral, technical measures to avoid biometric tracking likely ineffective.
In the case of MAC addresses, we see a difficult-to-reconcile clash between
privacy-as-confidentiality and privacy-as-control, and suggest a technical
framework which might help balance the two. Significant challenges exist when
seeking to balance personalisation with privacy, and researchers must work
together, including across the boundaries of preferred privacy definitions, to
come up with solutions that draw on both technology and the legal frameworks to
provide effective and proportionate protection. Retailers, simultaneously, must
ensure that their tracking is not just legal, but worthy of the trust of
concerned data subjects.Comment: 10 pages, 1 figure, Proceedings of the PETRAS/IoTUK/IET Living in the
Internet of Things Conference, London, United Kingdom, 28-29 March 201
Slave to the Algorithm? Why a \u27Right to an Explanation\u27 Is Probably Not the Remedy You Are Looking For
Algorithms, particularly machine learning (ML) algorithms, are increasingly important to individuals’ lives, but have caused a range of concerns revolving mainly around unfairness, discrimination and opacity. Transparency in the form of a “right to an explanation” has emerged as a compellingly attractive remedy since it intuitively promises to open the algorithmic “black box” to promote challenge, redress, and hopefully heightened accountability. Amidst the general furore over algorithmic bias we describe, any remedy in a storm has looked attractive. However, we argue that a right to an explanation in the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is unlikely to present a complete remedy to algorithmic harms, particularly in some of the core “algorithmic war stories” that have shaped recent attitudes in this domain. Firstly, the law is restrictive, unclear, or even paradoxical concerning when any explanation-related right can be triggered. Secondly, even navigating this, the legal conception of explanations as “meaningful information about the logic of processing” may not be provided by the kind of ML “explanations” computer scientists have developed, partially in response. ML explanations are restricted both by the type of explanation sought, the dimensionality of the domain and the type of user seeking an explanation. However, “subject-centric explanations (SCEs) focussing on particular regions of a model around a query show promise for interactive exploration, as do explanation systems based on learning a model from outside rather than taking it apart (pedagogical versus decompositional explanations) in dodging developers\u27 worries of intellectual property or trade secrets disclosure. Based on our analysis, we fear that the search for a “right to an explanation” in the GDPR may be at best distracting, and at worst nurture a new kind of “transparency fallacy.” But all is not lost. We argue that other parts of the GDPR related (i) to the right to erasure ( right to be forgotten ) and the right to data portability; and (ii) to privacy by design, Data Protection Impact Assessments and certification and privacy seals, may have the seeds we can use to make algorithms more responsible, explicable, and human-centered
Mg II flux and profile variability of hybrid-chromosphere stars
Results from an IUE investigation of the variability seen in the Mg II emission line fluxes and wind absorption components of hybrid-chromosphere stars are presented. Real Mg II flux variability is shown with most of the variation being long-term. This variability appears to be due to global changes in the Mg II surface activity. Major changes in the wind absorption component are not seen
Algorithms that Remember: Model Inversion Attacks and Data Protection Law
Many individuals are concerned about the governance of machine learning
systems and the prevention of algorithmic harms. The EU's recent General Data
Protection Regulation (GDPR) has been seen as a core tool for achieving better
governance of this area. While the GDPR does apply to the use of models in some
limited situations, most of its provisions relate to the governance of personal
data, while models have traditionally been seen as intellectual property. We
present recent work from the information security literature around `model
inversion' and `membership inference' attacks, which indicate that the process
of turning training data into machine learned systems is not one-way, and
demonstrate how this could lead some models to be legally classified as
personal data. Taking this as a probing experiment, we explore the different
rights and obligations this would trigger and their utility, and posit future
directions for algorithmic governance and regulation.Comment: 15 pages, 1 figur
Sexual Functioning and Behavior of Men with Body Dysmorphic Disorder Concerning Penis Size Compared with Men Anxious about Penis Size and with Controls: A Cohort Study
Introduction: Little is known about the sexual functioning and behavior of men anxious about the size of their penis and the means that they might use to try to alter the size of their penis.
Aim: To compare sexual functioning and behavior in men with body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) concerning penis size and in men with small penis anxiety (SPA without BDD) and in a control group of men who do not have any concerns.
Methods: An opportunistic sample of 90 men from the community were recruited and divided into three groups: BDD (n = 26); SPA (n = 31) and controls (n = 33).
Main Outcome Measures: The Index of Erectile Function (IEF), sexual identity and history; and interventions to alter the size of their penis.
Results: Men with BDD compared with controls had reduced erectile dysfunction, orgasmic function, intercourse satisfaction and overall satisfaction on the IEF. Men with SPA compared with controls had reduced intercourse satisfaction. There were no differences in sexual desire, the frequency of intercourse or masturbation across any of the three groups. Men with BDD and SPA were more likely than the controls to attempt to alter the shape or size of their penis (for example jelqing, vacuum pumps or stretching devices) with poor reported success.
Conclusion: Men with BDD are more likely to have erectile dysfunction and less satisfaction with intercourse than controls but maintain their libido. Further research is required to develop and evaluate a psychological intervention for such men with adequate outcome measures
Teaching and Professional Fellowship Report 2007-2008 : Make the Numbers Count, Improving students' learning experiences through an analysis of Library and Learning Resources data
Feedback on Library and Learning Resources (LLR) services and support at the University of the Arts London (UAL) is received from a very extensive range of sources. However, although a considerable quantity of information is
available for analysis, it remains very difficult for LLR staff to extract meaningful data from these numerous sources, which can reveal, in depth, the true, individual student experience of LLR services. LLR is aware that there is a lot that is not known, or is not being asked of our students, about their individual experience, which could prove extremely helpful for effective decision-making and service design and delivery. In particular, LLR is interested in identifying and resolving issues of access and support for students currently studying at UAL who are from under represented groups in higher education.
Make the numbers counts has enabled the Fellowship Team to move beyond looking at usage figures, gate counts, numbers of issue and renewal transactions, borrower numbers and percentage satisfaction levels, and to extend and add to our knowledge-base of what students at UAL really think and feel about academic libraries. It has enabled us to explore how individual students make use of the services and support provided by LLR. The qualitative data collected through this project has been compared to existing sources of information and to staff experience and understanding of the issues raised, to see if the findings of our research challenge or correlate with other evidence which relates to LLR use and non-use. The focus of the Fellowship has been to explore the particular experience of students who are the first in their family to go to university and who are currently studying at Camberwell, Chelsea and Wimbledon (CCW) and the London College of Communication. Research has shown that this group of students is important amongst the range of students who are now entering higher education through the expansion of participation in university and
tertiary-level study. Talking to first generation students was a key element of the project and the greatest source of learning for the Project Team
Comparing Simple Quasar Demographics Models
This paper explores several simple model variations for the connections among
quasars, galaxies, and dark matter halos for redshifts 1 < z < 6. A key
component of these models is that we enforce a self-consistent black hole (BH)
history by tracking both BH mass and BH growth rate at all redshifts. We
connect objects across redshift with a simple constant-number-density
procedure, and choose a fiducial model with a relationship between BH and
galaxy growth rates that is linear and evolves in a simple way with redshift.
Within this fiducial model, we find the quasar luminosity function (QLF) by
calculating an "intrinsic" luminosity based on either the BH mass or BH growth
rate, and then choosing a model of quasar variability with either a lognormal
or truncated power-law distribution of instantaneous luminosities. This gives
four model variations, which we fit to the observed QLF at each redshift. With
the best-fit models in hand, we undertake a detailed comparison of the four
fiducial models, and explore changes to our fiducial model of the BH-galaxy
relationship. Each model variation can successfully fit the observed QLF, the
shape of which is generally set by the "intrinsic" luminosity at the faint end
and by the scatter due to variability at the bright end. We focus on accounting
for the reasons that physically different models can make such similar
predictions, and on identifying what observational data or physical arguments
are most essential in breaking the degeneracies among models.Comment: 14 pages, 8 figures, 1 tabl
Swimming capabilities of stoats and the threat to inshore sanctuaries
Stoats (Mustela erminea) are small carnivorous mammals which were introduced into New Zealand in the late 19th century, and have now become widespread invasive pests. Stoats have long been known to be capable of swimming to islands 1-1.5 km offshore. Islands further out have usually been assumed to be safe from invasion, therefore routine stoat monitoring on them has been considered un-necessary. Recent incursions, including a stoat found on Rangitoto Island (3 km offshore) in 2010, and another which was deduced to have reached Kapiti (5 km offshore) in 2009, along with distribution modelling and genetic studies, strongly support the proposition that stoats can swim much further than 1.5 km. Acceptance of this hypothesis depends on estimating the probability that such small animals could indeed swim so far unaided. This paper reports the results of a project designed to assist this debate by recording the paddling action, speed and minimal endurance of nine stoats observed (once each) swimming against an endless current in a flume at the Aquatic Research Centre, University of Waikato. Four of the five males and two of the four females could hold a position for at least five minutes against the maximum current available, averaging 1.36 ± 0.336 km/h. In steady swimming against a current of c. 1 km/hr, they all used a rapid quadripedal paddling action (averaging 250 strokes/min, stronger with the spread forepaws). Four of the nine swam strongly for >1 h, including one female who covered 1.8 km in nearly 2 h non- stop. Results from such artificial conditions cannot be conclusive, but support suggestions that wild stoats could indeed swim much further than 1.5 km, hence we conclude that the “risk zone” for stoat reinvasions of inshore islands has been seriously under-estimated
Children bereaved by suicide: evaluation of a group intervention
1. This report describes a longitudinal evaluation of a therapeutic groupwork intervention for children aged 8-12 years bereaved by the suicide of a parent or relative, offered through the Daughters of Charity Child & Family Service. In 2001, a steering group on suicide prevention was established by the Northern Area Health Board. A primary recommendation of the group was that a specialist service for children bereaved by suicide should be established as an urgent priority. 2. Empirical evidence now strongly indicates that parental suicide is a risk factor for offspring mental health difficulties and even suicide. Research findings suggest that suicide bereaved children were more likely to experience anger and shame and less acceptance of the death, one year after bereavement than non-suicide bereaved children. Age at bereavement by suicide is emerging as a significant predictor of later emotional and behavioural problems as recent research findings show that parental suicide affects children more profoundly than young adults (Wilcox et al, 2010; Sørensen et al., 2009) … 8. Four years on, some of the former group participants have taken leadership roles in their schools by working with teachers and mental health professionals to set up projects or organise talks on suicide, suicide bereavement and suicide prevention. Thus the project has had an unanticipated multiplier effect in reaching children affected by suicide
- …