Action in light of information: What robots can teach us about algorithms

Elliott Hauser

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/111783 Copy

Description

Title

Action in light of information: What robots can teach us about algorithms

Author(s)

Elliott Hauser

Issue Date

2021-10-29

Keyword(s)

• robots
• algorithms
• critical informatics

Abstract

What do algorithms do? This question is central to the ethics, design, and policy surrounding algorithmically mediated technologies in applications ranging from social media to banking to medicine. This contribution takes the example of algorithmically mediated robotics as a novel entrypoint to this question. Robots take unambiguous physical action in light of information processed by their control systems. In robotics, the common framing of algorithms’ input producing output is thus rendered into input producing action. By sidestepping the need to characterize algorithmic output as (speech) act, the ethical implications of algorithms can be more directly analyzed when observed via robotic action. This paper contends that important and generally applicable aspects of algorithms are more visible in their robotic deployments, and suggests robotics as a key site for algorithm studies more broadly.

Series/Report Name or Number

Proceedings of the 17th Annual Social Informatics Research Symposium and the 3rd Annual Information Ethics and Policy Workshop

Type of Resource

text

Language

en

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http://hdl.handle.net/2142/111783

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