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It’s tough to imagine computers and robots and electrical wiring being racist but a Harvard study has found “significant discrimination” in advertising results depending on the perceived race of the name you search for. Names typically associated with black people produced more ads related to crime. Searches for white names would be harmless.
That would be, um, racist. The study, done by Harvard professor Latanya Sweeney, found that names that are perceived as more black (Kareem, Leroy and Keisha) were 25% more likely to have advertisements that read ‘Arrested?’ from a website that does criminal record checks than names that weren’t black. Those other names (Brad, Luke and Katie) just had ads for websites that offer generic contact details.
But is that Google being racist? Or the people (that would be us) using Google who are racist? Sweeney suggests that Google’s algorithm to display ads may have found a certain ad getting more clicks versus another ad when searching the same name. EVERYBODY IS A RACIST. [BBC via Geekosystem]
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Reminds me of Doc Brown
http://youtu.be/JrK_HVGOnUo
Hadn’t seen that so thanks, very funny
Wow, surprisingly accurate! From a comic perspective though, I prefer this Dr Brown: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfONJQ7DudQ
i prefer this one
http://goo.gl/jIh3d
If the stats say a black person is more likely to be arrested, then the stats aren’t racist and it isn’t racist to use these stats.
It is racist to say that blacks are “bad people” and that is why they are arrested more often. That ignores the other social issues which a higher proportion of black people face such as poverty and lack of welfare.
I strongly suspect someone will be along shortly to call you racist for your comments
RACIST!
But yeah I agree. If black people are (statistically) more likely to be arrested, there’s gonna be a link data wise. However if the ad said “Committed a crime?” instead of “Arrested?” then that’s a little different
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incarceration_in_the_United_States#Race
According to this, black men have the highest incarceration rate (in jail and prison) compared to whites and hispanics.
It’s all so pointless to argue about whether it’s racist to point out apparent stats really because it just distracts from the issue sorting out why there is such an imbalance.
No, Google isn’t racist. Unless of course Harvard professor Latanya Sweeny is though for publising (presumably accurate?) data showing certain names are “more black”.
This was my first conclusion. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black!
Exactly, it’s not like the call of duty black ops or monopoly game with go to jail everywhere.
Aren’t they just being namist?