Algorithmatism And Its Ethical Criticism

With the development of information technology,algorithm is increasingly becoming a generalized form of technology.It has not only helped for technical advancements but also brought about changes in social production and people ' s way of life.Whilst the benefit of its development are obvious,as a result,ethical issues,such as like security,privacy,discrimination and manipulation,surface.The emergence of these issues are related to a rising concept called Algorithmism.When algorithm gains more influencial power in many fields,algorithmism becomes a popular or even dominating ideological trend.If the emergence and thriving of algorithm is historically inevitable for technology development,Algorithmism,as a consequent ideology,is worthy of significant attention and in-depth discussion.This paper describes Algorithmism and its basic propositions,analyzes the impact it has made on the value system that underpin human and social development,and attempts to carry out its ethical criticism.The rise of Algorithmism can be traced by close examination of the development of algorithm.This paper endeavors to interpret the development history of algorithm by demonstrating it as a three-stage process(mathematics,computational science and intelligent technology).Initially,algorithm was used and considered as mathematical method.Later,it evolved to be a scientific paradigm from which computational science was derived.In the thriving era of artificial intelligence(AI),algorithm further becomes a technical paradigm and the core of information technology.Historically,algorithms were summarized as a set of instructions,steps,or strategic mechanisms that were solely used for solving problems.However,with the growing applications of big data and AI in the human society,as well as being under the influence by ideas like‘technical operation'and‘technological society',algorithms are becoming problem-solving technologies,social technological systems or even technological forces that symbolize power.The basic propositions of Algorithmism can be summarized as three points.First,all things are algorithmic,all things must be algorithmic,algorithms make all things,and that people and technology ultimately exist in the way of algorithm.Second,algorithms are the only way for people to know and understand the world.They should ‘see' the world in an algorithmic way,think in an algorithmic way,and create knowledge in an algorithmic way.Thirdly,as the integrator of the power and efficiency of technology,all things,including people,should undergo algorithmic technological transformation.Things that cannot become algorithmic have no value,and algorithms define everything's value.Algorithmism has caused many ethical problems due to its excessive emphasis on algorithm efficacy,such as algorithm black box,security risk,control and autonomy,privacy infringement,algorithm discrimination and so on.The severity of these problems are growingly significant,making them hard to overlook.At the social level,Algorithmism has given birth to the so-called ‘black-box society' and surveillance society,expanding risks at algorithmic level to that at the societal level.It has also contributed to social inequality by creating space for the existence of algorithmic discrimination,.At the individual level,Algorithmism drives out individual privacy and freedom,solidifies algorithmic discrimination into the social operation mechanism,resulting in the paradox of algorithmic trust.It can arguably be concluded that Algorithmism is an embodiment of Scientism-it advocates that the value of algorithm is higher than that of human,leading to the transfer of value object from human to algorithm,forming such values like black box ethics,power ethics,efficiency ethics and tool ethics.Therefore,a critique on the value standpoint of Algorithmism ought to be made from a humanistic perspective.For example,black box ethics assumes that algorithm and the world it constitutes are hidden in a black box whose content are not to be learned by humans,which creates a conflicts between humans and the real world we live in.In power ethics,people pursue the maximized power of algorithm whose reliability and certainty are questionable.Moreover,infinite pursuit of algorithm power can cause energy crisis and other results that hinders sustainability.Efficiency ethics regards algorithm as the standard of efficiency,which can cause simplification of the ways the world can be learned and experienced,so as the ways humans can live and work in.This perspective limits our cognitive range,enlarges the cognitive gap between people,destroys the information ecology and economic ecology,therefore reduces the overall efficiency of the society.Tool ethics is to follow the authority of the algorithm,which ignores the autonomy of people but regard them as tools,making it more difficult for people to obtain value consensus.This will lead to such result that people yield to the algorithm's tool rationality and become slaves of the algorithm,and even be terminated by algorithm.How do we respond to these challenges presented by Algorithmism?First,algorithm ethics that is human-oriented should be established in human society and Algorithm black box should be challenged.Algorithm should be developed in a responsible way,and a free relationship between human and algorithm should be built.Second,the value of human-orientation should be endorsed in algorithm governance and the global society should strive for establishing an algorithm governance framework that is international and diversified.To do this,legal and ethical regulations should both be emphasized and integrated to achieve the effective result.The importance to embrace humanistic values when designing algorithm should be advocated and resources should be mobilized to promote public awareness,raise algorithm literacy and cultivate ability to respond to its influence.Through these practices,we can better resist against ethical issues presented by Algorithmism when keep on advancing algorithms as a technology.