Re: Bias & History, Near & Far

Paola, I'm with Brandt on this.  I believe disclosure is key, i.e., 
explicitly documenting one's primary values.

It seems to me that those in a position to exert disproportionate 
influence on others (e.g., politicians, journalist, educators, etc.) 
have a special obligation to do so.

While it would be good for them to do so in an open, standard, 
machine-readable format, like StratML, AI applications should be able to 
do a pretty good job of inferring values based upon what people and 
organizations say and do.  (What they do is more important than what 
they say.  They may be deluding not merely others but also themselves.)

In the meantime, services like these can help: https://personalvalu.es/ 
| https://moralfoundations.org/questionnaires/ | 
https://www.idrlabs.com/morality/6/test.php | https://principlesyou.com/ 
| https://jamesclear.com/core-values


Brandt's parenthetical description of himself explains why I like him so 
much based upon what I've seen him say and do.  I'd be happy to use the 
same terms to describe myself.  Some of his values are documented at 
https://stratml.us/carmel/iso/EDMXwStyle.xml#values_ and some of mine at 
https://stratml.us/SMLC2021.xml#values_


As individuals and organizations begin to publish their performance 
plans and reports in open, standard, machine-readable format, it will be 
pretty easy for AI agents to determine biases, priorities, and 
effectiveness (which is why many people and orgs will resist doing so).

Owen


On 1/7/2022 7:10 PM, Paola Di Maio wrote:
> 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?
>
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>
>
> 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 outin
>         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
>