Module 2 - Lesson 8: Human agency and autonomous systems, and permutation testing for classification

[Gavin Chait]

ETHICS

Resolve conflicts between the need for human agency with algorithmic decision-making.

Cultural critique, who “owns” it? Do you take instructions from the machine, or is it a tool? Will it change behaviour?
Example: machine says “no”; or abstracting users away from the decision-making process and only permitting actions based on machines.

CURATION

Develop systems which support automated data collection and analysis while recognising user agency.

Automated systems of individual / machine data collection; agency, society, trust and data authenticity; cf “press 1 for x” type systems where no human involved and subjects cannot deviate from a predetermined path;
Emergent systems, automated diagnostics (cf telephone helplines like 111 in the UK)

ANALYSIS

Decide whether quantitative variables are related using permutation testing.

Permutation testing for categorical distributions; Radial basis function, and Support Vector Machines.

PRESENTATION

Plot categorical data – and interim states of categorisation – using violin plots and small multiples.

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CASE STUDY

Continue with cancer data, or a new study from Dataverse.