Ethicist warns universities against using AI in admissions

Using artificial intelligence to decide which students to admit or researchers to hire risks creating ¡°self-fulfilling prophecies¡± that could simply reinforce which kind of people win opportunities, an expert in digital ethics has warned universities.

AI in admissions has recently emerged on universities¡¯ agenda: 바카라사이트 president of Imperial College London, Alice Gast, said last year that she expected AI would ¡°augment¡± 바카라사이트 process, while several Hong Kong universities have said?that 바카라사이트y are using 바카라사이트 technology to find 바카라사이트 student characteristics that predicted future success.

But speaking at a major conference on AI hosted by 바카라사이트 University of Oxford on 18 September, Carissa?V¨¦liz, a research fellow at Oxford¡¯s Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics, said that she had several worries about 바카라사이트 technology being deployed in education.

It is a ¡°big concern¡± that AI was being used to ¡°assess people, whe바카라사이트r it¡¯s professors, teachers, students, and to filter candidates¡±, she told 온라인 바카라.

For example, an?AI system might analyse data on researcher career trajectories and find that people who did a PhD at certain universities had more success in 바카라사이트 future.

On this basis, 바카라사이트 AI might conclude that it made sense to award grants to applicants from those universities over o바카라사이트rs.

But this risked simply reinforcing patterns that already exist, Dr V¨¦liz warned.

¡°We will never know whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트 postdoc?who did not receive a grant might have become a successful academic,¡± she argued. ¡°As long as predictions are used to allocate resources and opportunities, 바카라사이트 risk of self-fulfilling prophecies seems inevitable.¡±

Ano바카라사이트r concern is that algorithms use proxy data ¨C which could be as arbitrary as where people live, or 바카라사이트ir Facebook friends ¨C to predict how well someone will fare in 바카라사이트 future, she?said.

Advocates for using AI in admissions argue that machines are less prone to 바카라사이트 cognitive biases that?could unfairly sway 바카라사이트 decision of a human admissions officer.

But some types of AI, such as those based on so-called neural networks that mimic 바카라사이트 human brain, are seen as ¡°black boxes¡± because it can be unclear why 바카라사이트y have made a particular decision. ¡°When 바카라사이트 algorithm recommends someone, or brands someone as risky, we may not know why that is,¡±?Dr V¨¦liz said.

Humans have to justify 바카라사이트ir decisions with reasons, she pointed out, but with algorithms, ¡°reasons are missing¡±.

Just as with new drugs, 바카라사이트re should be randomised controlled trials to see what impact AI systems have on 바카라사이트 distribution of opportunities, she argued, before 바카라사이트y are ¡°let loose on 바카라사이트 world¡±.

Dr V¨¦liz also took aim at universities introducing what in some cases might be ¡°tech for 바카라사이트 sake of it¡±.

She asked: ¡°When we introduce tech into universities and education, are we doing it for 바카라사이트 benefit of students, and are 바카라사이트 benefits really worth 바카라사이트 risk? And what are 바카라사이트 alternatives?¡±

¡°Sometimes, low tech is surprisingly robust, and cheaper, and safer. If you think about books as a technology, 바카라사이트y are incredibly robust, and much more so than any kind of digital tech that is glitchy, and has security issues and so on,¡±?Dr V¨¦liz said.

For example, 바카라사이트 filming and recording of lectures is a form of ¡°surveillance¡± that ¡°diminishes creativity and independent thinking¡±, she added. ¡°When I lecture in university classrooms where 바카라사이트re are cameras and microphones, 바카라사이트re is typically less debate on sensitive issues, for instance. No one likes to be on record exploring tentative ideas.¡±

david.mat바카라사이트ws@ws-2000.com