Are you aware of algorithms's impacts?

I will dedicate this week's thought blog to algorithms, a familiar terminology in recent years in the context of digitalization. This thought blog is some thoughts that I generalize from the reading of Grant et al. (2020) with the title "To be or not to be algorithm aware: a question of a new digital divide?"

This study examines the population's awareness of and attitudes toward algorithms in Norway, a highly digitalized nation. From there, the paper reveals distinct demographic disparities in algorithm awareness. Additionally, the degree of algorithm awareness and demographic variables are related to attitudes toward algorithm-driven recommendations (like YouTube and Spotify), advertisements, and content (like personalized news feeds in social media and online newspapers). The most important key finding to me is a cluster of six groups of algorithm awareness: the unaware, the uncertain, the affirmative, the neutral, the skeptic, and the critical.

However, as students who have yet to study algorithms, we should have some foundation knowledge before diving into the article's key findings. Although the article briefly defined algorithms, the audience needs more conceptualization. I'd like to introduce one short video to recap a basic knowledge about algorithms and their application in many fields.

Video "Computer Science Basics: Algorithms". Source: GCF Global

According to GCF Global, an algorithm is a list of steps that can be used to finish a job. These are the building blocks of programming. Computers, smartphones, and websites can all work and make choices based on algorithms. For instance, we want to use a navigation app to find our way. The app uses an algorithm to look at all the possible routes when we type in a destination. Then, it uses a different algorithm to look at the traffic. Finally, a third algorithm uses that information to find the best route. These all work because they are built into the app's code. If there were a mistake in the code, the app would not be able to follow these algorithms correctly, which means you would not get your directions. As you can see, algorithms will be at the heart of these technologies for as long as people code and program. They will decide what they do and how they do it. As a result, algorithms support and are inherently ingrained in critical decision-making processes in various fields: public administration, the media, health care, and politics (Gran et al., 2020).

As long as people know algorithms, they should know that what we consume daily (not food and drinks) results from algorithms. The problem is only a few people are aware of that. One theory can explain this phenomenon, called "digital divide studies." This theoretical framework has concentrated on inequality related to computer and internet infrastructure access, divides related to varying user patterns, motivations, and skill sets, as well as the broader advantages of digital skills in daily life (Dutton & Reisdorf, 2019; Lutz, 2019; van Deursen & Helsper, 2015; van Deursen & van Dijk, 2014; Zillien & Hargittai, 2009, as cited in Gran et al., 2020). People with different demographics (e.g., age, gender, and education) will have different access levels to physical infrastructure (e.g., broadband or wireless networks and computers or mobile phones). Their digital skills and patterns of internet use will be different.

"Digital divide studies" is applied to investigate how the awareness of algorithms impacts Nordic citizens' attitudes, with some key findings that I already presented in the introduction. From there, Gran et al. (2020) questioned how we should put the awareness of algorithms at the level of the digital divide (access to the internet/equipment, skill and usage, or general benefits). The awareness of algorithms should be placed in the mix of second and third levels, which mix skills usage and general benefits. Indeed, algorithm awareness, according to Hargittai and Micheli (2019), is best understood as a meta-skill—a knowledge or comprehension that could enhance other digital skills and provide advantages in general.

Algorithms are applied in various technological fields. Source: Wix

Ultimately, the importance of education for people's online skills, usage, and advantages appears to be growing. It is interesting to consider the relationship between negative attitudes toward algorithms and awareness of them, which is correlated with higher levels of education. It may not only perpetuate the existing disparities in society but also quicken them in unexpected and unplanned ways. Although, on this point, I agree with the author that digital literacy may be a solution, we also need to count the impacts of the knowledge gap. When more knowledge is provided but opportunities are not shared equally among the public, giving knowledge about awareness of algorithms can be a waste. But perhaps, in the current period, it is a potential solution when algorithms are used so commonly on technology platforms and somehow select user content, creating a division for users on internet platforms.

References:

Computer Science: Hardware and Software. (n.d.). GCFGlobal.org. Retrieved January 30, 2024, from https://edu.gcfglobal.org/en/computer-science/hardware-and-software/1/

Gran, A. B., Booth, P., & Bucher, T. (2020). To be or not to be algorithm aware: a question of a new digital divide? Information, Communication & Society, 24(12), 1779–1796. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118x.2020.1736124

Hargittai, E., & Micheli, M. (2019). Internet skills and why they matter. In M. Graham & W. H. Dutton (Eds.), Society and the internet: How networks of information and communication are changing our lives (pp. 109–124). Oxford University Press.