Re: Bias & History, Near & Far

Dear Brandt and all
thanks for reply-
yes, bias is inevitable, however the consequences of some bias can be more
harmful/lethal than others, and in pursuit of fairness, bias should be
mitigated/minimized
In particular, algorithmic bias can amplify and reinforce harmful bias
this is the crux of bias in AI >ML issues.
Question: how can KR mitigate harmful bias?

<https://www.avast.com/sig-email?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campaign=sig-email&utm_content=webmail&utm_term=icon>
Virus-free.
www.avast.com
<https://www.avast.com/sig-email?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campaign=sig-email&utm_content=webmail&utm_term=link>
<#DAB4FAD8-2DD7-40BB-A1B8-4E2AA1F9FDF2>

On Sat, Jan 8, 2022 at 8:03 AM <brandt@redd.org> wrote:

> Happy New Year to all of you!
>
>
>
> I’m not familiar with any learning standard that specifically engages with
> the bias issue. But with the subject at such prominence in the public
> sphere, that will probably change.
>
>
>
> At MatchMaker Education Labs, the startup I’m working on, we have to
> address bias issues because we strive to match competency standards across
> frameworks – and every framework has a bias. In our debates, we have
> concluded that bias is inevitable. To be sure, extreme bias is to be
> avoided but some perspective will always be present. For that reason, we
> advocate for acknowledging bias and making it explicit.
>
>
>
> When I read an author’s bio, for example, I naturally look for keywords
> and background that will indicate that author’s bias. I expect most of you
> probably do the same. Perhaps when writing our bios, we could be more
> explicit about such things.
>
>
>
> Thank you all!
>
> Brandt (Moderate-Right but Classically Liberal with a dash of
> Libertarianism 😊)
>
>
>
> *From:* Owen Ambur <Owen.Ambur@verizon.net>
> *Sent:* Thursday, 6 January, 2022 7:36 PM
> *To:* paoladimaio10@googlemail.com
> *Cc:* Brandt Redd <brandt@redd.org>; Scott Yates <
> scott@certifiedcontentcoalition.org>; Carl Mattocks <
> carlmattocks@gmail.com>; Michael Sessa <michael.sessa@pesc.org>; Larry
> Fruth <lfruth@a4l.org>
> *Subject:* Bias & History, Near & Far
>
>
>
> Happy new year, Paola.  We were with family over the holidays and just
> returned home this week, whereupon I found that my E-mail client is still
> routing to my junk folder messages like yours from the W3C listservs.
>
> Having scanned the article you cite, I've taken particular note of the
> concluding sentence: "History classes must begin to use strategies that
> identify and challenge biases found in textbooks, and develop ethical
> frameworks based on justice and equality that students and teachers can use
> to interpret and evaluate American history."
>
> As you may know, I'm a bit impatient with entreaties referencing fuzzy
> concepts like "strategies" and "frameworks" (as well as "democracy") that
> fail to propose model performance plans, upon which interested stakeholders
> might take action.  If you are aware of any actual plan(s) to do as
> Romanowski suggests, I may wish to render it(them) in StratML format.
>
> In the meantime, I'm copying Brandt in the event there may be any
> education standards relevant to this issue and I'm copying Scott since it
> is unlikely that historical reports can be credible if contemporaneous
> records are not.  While the victors may (or may not) write history
> <https://historyofyesterday.com/is-history-written-by-the-victors-here-are-5-examples-of-losers-writing-history-815b4f28e37c>,
> they most certainly do not have a monopoly on the truth, the whole truth,
> and nothing but the truth.
>
> The about statements for the initiatives the CredWeb CG plans to evaluate
> are available in StratML format at
> https://stratml.us/drybridge/index.htm#CWCG
>
> I wonder if, for example, Overtone.ai's logic might be applied to
> historical texts.  They say
> <https://stratml.us/carmel/iso/OVRTNwStyle.xml#values_>, "Ultimately,
> this is a journey that goes way, way beyond text based news content. This
> is about the way in which human beings communicate – about any topic, at
> any length, using any medium, and with anybody."
>
> The education standards identified by Data Standards United work group
> that Brandt chairs are documented in StratML format at
> https://stratml.us/drybridge/index.htm#DSU2  Based upon a word-find
> search of the StratML rendition of the directory
> <https://stratml.us/carmel/iso/DLSwStyle.xml>, it appears that none of
> them addresses the issues of "history" or "bias" or "knowledge" per se.  To
> me, that seems to be an opportunity rather than a problem.
>
> All the best you.  Looking forward to learning what we might be able to
> accomplish together this year.
>
> Owen
>
>
>
> On 12/25/2021 6:24 AM, Paola Di Maio wrote:
>
> Hello AI KR CG folks, Ontologers and SW people from all walks of life
>
>
>
> I have been thinking of some meaningful wishes to send out in relation to
> AI KR in the context of the Winter festivities.The closes relevant topic
> that comes to mind is
>
>
>
> Knowledge Misrepresentation in History
>
>
> https://www.socialstudies.org/sites/default/files/publications/se/6003/600310.html
>
>
>
> and
> Bias in Historical Description, Interpretation, and Explanation
>
> Debates among historians show that they expect descriptions of past people
> and events, interpretations of historical subjects, and genetic
> explanations of historical changes to be fair and not misleading
>
>
>
>
>
>
> https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Bias-in-Historical-Description%2C-Interpretation%2C-and-Mccullagh/5e9ef86edd2c7b955606ba45fdf981feef713b14
>
>
>
> When designing intelligent systems, we use knowledge  from various
> repositories
>
> and databases, the quality and validity of which is not always questioned,
> especially
>
> in the case of long term historical perspectives which form the basis for
> many widely held views.
>
>
>
> Today, as we celebrate the important and sometimes debated (problematic
> even as described by some!!!) historical  events surrounding  the birth of
> JC, we should remember misrepresentation in history, and how
> misrepresentation is deliberately designed to manipulate history
>
> The articles above are mere pointers to the topic  not endorsed nor
> exhaustive, and intended as mere reading recommendations
>
>
>
> Let Bias and misrepresentation not spoil the festivities, but  let's
> remain aware that history does not always warrant celebration and let's
> remind ourselves, what is there really, to celebrate hoping that everyone
> gets at least some.
>
>
>
> Happy and meaningful winter holidays!!
>
>
>
> In wisdom
>
> Paola DM
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>