An apparent cataloging error by Amazon.com that stripped thousands of books, many with homosexual themes, of their sales rankings and made them harder to locate sparked rampant accusations of bias and homophobia by online critics. The incident highlights the fallibility and controversial nature of the cataloging algorithms underpinning the Internet. “Whenever something like this happens, people immediately blame it on conspiracy,” says University of Washington professor Ed Lazowska. “There are all kinds of ways for things to go wrong that are what I would call unintended consequences of either computer algorithms or human behavior.” Cataloging systems that predated the Internet, such as the 19th century’s Dewey Decimal System, were influenced by the cultural biases of their eras. “The ethical issue with algorithms and information systems generally is that they make choices about what information to use, or display or hide, and this makes them very powerful,” observed Silicon Valley entrepreneur Mary Hodder in a blog post. “These choices are never made in a vacuum and reflect both the conscious and subconscious assumptions and ideas of their creators.” David Weinberger at Harvard University’s Berkman Center for Internet and Society says there is a general consensus that any single ordering of categories will directly reflect political and cultural prejudices, “and that’s exactly where truth cannot lie.”
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