Renee Cummings, Lexy Kassan, Marie Weber

Encode Equity

Show Notes on Encode Equity Organizations have flocked to data science as a means of achieving unbiased results in decision-making on the premise that “the data doesn’t lie.” Yet, as data is reflective of the biases in our culture, in our history, and in our perspectives, it is particularly naïve to assume that models will […]

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retain reponsibility

Retain Responsibility

Show Notes on Retain Responsibility One of the core tenets of ethical behavior in data science revolves around the concept of needing to retain responsibility or accountability. A differentiator between our take on this and that most commonly conveyed is the distinction between the two terms. Why, then, do we use the term “responsibility” instead […]

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Data Ethics & Policy with Sheila Colclasure

Data is infinite. Digital is inevitable. Sheila Colclasure This week we are talking about the efforts underway around the world to promote ethical, accountable data use, the promise and terror of AI, the need for a universal translator, and much more. Leading this conversation is Sheila Colclasure, Global Chief Data Ethics Officer and Public Policy […]

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Data Science Ethics Podcast Now on YouTube

Taking the advice of listeners and other podcasters, we’ve begun posting the Data Science Ethics Podcast to YouTube. It’s the same audio content – no real video feed, sorry – links, show notes (where they fit) and everything. We’ll be loading up the back-catalog of episodes over the next couple of days. Then, as we […]

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Collect Carefully

Episode 28: Collect Carefully – Show Notes The era of Big Data has meant the ability gathering and processing of vast stores of information about almost anything. It enables data scientists to bring enormous swaths of data to bear on a given problem. Further, it expands the ability to collect data from research techniques that […]

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Citizenship, Privacy, and the 2020 Census

Episode 26 – Citizenship, Privacy, and the 2020 Census Show Notes The US Census happens every ten years and provides the basis for democratic representation, federal fund distribution, and swaths of research. But this time, the census is poised to potentially degrade its own results. The proposed inclusion of a single question around citizenship on […]

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AI Has Americans Worried

Episode 23: Concerns About AI – Show Notes Horror stories of AI gone mad are everywhere in science fiction – but are they likely to become reality? Many Americans now believe so. Based on a recent Vox article covering a study from the University of Oxford, we discuss the top concerns about AI on the […]

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Protect Privacy

Episode 22: Protect Privacy – Show Notes IT are not the only ones responsible to protect privacy of data. Data scientists share this burden as they search for, collect, store, utilize, and share vast amounts of information. In this episode, we explore what data scientists and non-practitioners should do to help protect privacy. Additional Links […]

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Current daylight savings time illustration

Daylight Savings Time and Confirmation Bias

Episode 17: Daylight Savings Time and Confirmation Bias – Show Notes This episode was inspired by a clear lack of sleep. Today, we are discussing confirmation bias. Confirmation bias is when people seek out only the evidence that supports their point of view while dismissing contrary evidence. An example might be a smoker highlighting a […]

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Moral Machine and We Get Stumped

Episode 16: The Moral Machine – Show Notes MIT conducted a long-term study called the Moral Machine that spanned the globe. It posed seemingly-simply questions about what a driverless car should do. These were variations on the trolley problem – a classic ethical dilemma about whether the driver of a runaway trolley should avoid striking […]

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