{"id":636,"date":"2021-12-06T10:35:50","date_gmt":"2021-12-06T09:35:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wpmu.mau.se\/nmict21group8\/?p=636"},"modified":"2022-05-11T14:35:26","modified_gmt":"2022-05-11T12:35:26","slug":"data-ml-and-ai-the-in-betweens-of-technology-and-communication","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wpmu.mau.se\/nmict21group8\/2021\/12\/06\/data-ml-and-ai-the-in-betweens-of-technology-and-communication\/","title":{"rendered":"Data, ML and AI: The in-betweens of Technology and Communication"},"content":{"rendered":"
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MALMO UNIVERSITY, Communications for Development<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Course \u2013 New Media, ICT and Development, HT 21<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Examination \u2013 NMICT & D: Individual assignment<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Name \u2013 Sampurna Datta Paul<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Date of Submission \u2013 06.12.2021 (Late Submission)<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Word count \u2013 2,320<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Data, ML and AI: The in-betweens of Technology and Communication<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The world opinion gets divided with the name of technology, whether it is society, politics or development, there is a varying level of biasness when it comes to technology. Some prevalently dominant areas of the same are Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and Data analytics. My intention behind writing this article is to highlight the interesting and intertwined relationship shared among all these three aspects of technology and how they collectively impact the societal development.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0Technology is commonly misunderstood as a threatening and destructive element of human existence, whereas in reality it is the child of human intelligence which is being improvised further for societal development. For instance, when AI is discussed, there is a habitual norm of interpreting it as robots which will eventually displace the existence of the entire humankind! It is of utmost importance to disseminate real information and the implementation process about technology to the general public. As Martin Shields said how\u00a0<\/span>\u201cit is not enough to crowd-source the information and put it on a digital map, then expect the local population to take the initiative and to track down the information and decide what to do with it.\u201d<\/span><\/i>\u00a0(R Read et al 2016, P-11) Though the authenticity of the positive impacts of AI is arguable, but it is also appalling to see such remarkably negative opposition against it among the majority in the society. How much do we understand AI, how much do we know about ML, how much we are aware of the Data? Are the organization concerned about humanitarianism or they have taken the\u00a0<\/span>\u2018technocratic turn\u2019<\/span><\/i>? Let’s explore more about it.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As mentioned in article of Data Hubris, technology has rendered some prominent promises which encompasses the humanitarian sector in a broader way. It is forecasted to be more accurate, faster and also uphold the potential importance of the general people, thus making the equation between the donor and the receiver to be fairer and more equal. With the advancement of the digital world, it becomes quite expected that its utmost potential can be delivered during a crisis-struck situation, such as an epidemic. Faster collection and integration of data leads to faster solution during societal chaos. To regain balance, it is important to sort the plethora of data hubris in a proper channelized and hierarchical manner. But seldom it happens that speed leads to inaccuracy, which in case of data may lead to total disruption. Technology has promised a solution to that as well, with providing accurate data and in an accurate way. Digital technologies which is also portable nowadays can deliver data in a more precise way which in turn saves timeliness in case of emergency. Now, with the advancement of technology, power relations begin to grow the inequality between the donor and the receiver. With the crisis-affected areas becoming the hub of digital technology, the power of data is in their hand and with the proper knowledge of technology they can share or edit their information as data, which in turn may benefit the \u2018receiver\u2019. Thus, empowering them to a greater extent. In the words of Burns, the digital humanitarian endeavor involves, <\/span>\u201cdifferent modes of production, processing, curation and representation of people, places and knowledge; that is, most often, digital humanitarianism enrolls spatially and socially-distanced people to work with local knowledges mediated through digital technologies.\u201d<\/span><\/i>\u00a0(R Read et al 2016, P-8)<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As we already know by now, for proper functioning and integration of the society and its development, data plays a very crucial role. Any data can either proliferate the development or ruin it. First data is collected from an area, then machines are being fed with these data with the help of Machine Learning, and then the learnings from these data are implemented through Artificial Intelligence. There are various models which goes through algorithmic evaluation before the decision making takes place regarding the actual execution of the model through ML. The insights derived from ML is then further implemented in AI. The challenging part comes when the data is tweaked for political purposes or racial biases, which then leads to data injustice. But sometimes data can be misleading as well, so it becomes eminent that learnings are not derived through direct data but from various analytics conducted with these data. Data models need to be reviewed and analyzed before the decision-making process gets implemented.\u00a0<\/span>\u201cWhile automating decision processes using ML can sometimes be seen as the fastest path to efficiency gains, it’s important to proceed slowly and build in opportunities for people to retain control over decision-making.\u201d<\/span><\/i>\u00a0(USAID 2018, P- 64)<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

While discussing about ML deployment, contexts become more important in order to know the nitty-gritty of the data that is collected. Local knowledge from where the data is collected gives an added advantage in the deployment of the data in the ML model in a more efficient way. What and who is represented by the available data can be accurately measured by local technology partners who are well versed with the characteristics of the region studied. But sometimes contextual data may also lead to disruptions, especially in areas where the population is dominated by religious or another ethnic group. They naturally tend to avoid being included and fears from sharing personal data, which in turn excludes them from datasets and thus leads to data biasness. Some of them who are deprived of representation are the children, women, elderly and also the disabled. While, it is needless to mention that their data pose an equal importance when compared to others. For an effective implementation of ML models and technology it is also necessary to build trust and nurture empathy with the help of local partners. Believe and faith in a person or organization makes the locals keep aside their hindrances and ethical limitations. They are encouraged to explore more and go beyond the chain of conservative periphery. This also\u00a0led\u00a0to the exposure of the full potential of an individual which in turn results in the collection of unbiased and unfiltered data. The ML tool also gets enhanced and further accentuates the development process.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Is AI a success or it has its own pitfalls?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Let us consider some fields of ML and AI applications which has proved to be a boon for the society, such as \u2013 the healthcare system has upgraded itself to a vast extent and most of the credits goes to the ML and AI tools used for it. The humongous amount of data collected from the public and sorting them in order of necessity is made possible with accuracy and efficacy, only with the help of AI integrated machines. In times of emergency automated ML tools makes it easier to come to a conclusive decision for the doctors, as the decision are pivotal to saving a life. Sometimes due to overtiredness, doctors fall asleep or lose concentration during critical operations. AI integrated robots are fatigue-free and can take over the doctor’s task when needed during outmost emergency, thus restraining from the occurrence of a disaster. Also, nowadays due to added pressure on the medical system, appointments with virtual doctors online are made possible due to this advancement of technology. Elderly people are also benefited by the AI technology. Pet animals who serve as best accompaniment for them can be replaced by AI robots; as pet animals also needs to be cared for which becomes quite tedious for overly-aged people and in addition to this AI robots not only gives them company but also assists them in daily household chores. Other examples such as house guard falling asleep, factory guards falling asleep and thus leading to avoidable consequences (theft, factory on fire) can be adjusted with the help of Ai assisted machines or robots, for the wee hours when any normal human being tends to fall asleep.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But of course, the aforesaid positive consequences don\u2019t negate the probable negative aspects that may be caused due to the ML and AI tools. Some prominent areas of change due to AI integration could be the possible replacement of human workforce with robots. In the healthcare sector, human nurses can easily be replaced with more efficient and diligent robotic nurse. Human guards who watch over the buildings during the night hour can be replaced with robotic guards, thus calling for less human requirement in such areas of work and giving rise to unemployment. There are many incidents that have occurred in the recent days regarding AI face recognition, which led to some serious racial discrimination. Black skinned people were automatically rendered as criminals, whereas the white skinned were spared from such humiliation.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

From using the social media in our daily life to interaction with Alexa, to our unaware conscious self we use AI in our everyday life. But we can only resonate to robots with AI while we talk about technological advancement.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Empathy and AI<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0We can work with advanced technology and intelligence, but the only human aspect that is irreplaceable by machines is empathy. Machines learns from data, implements and predicts the future behavior according to the data feed, but when it comes to empathy, how can that be taught to machines? The challenge in the world of AI comes here, as its nearly impossible to impersonate the real empathetic feeling in an artificial way. AI researchers are still trying to dig deep into the subject of artificial empathy.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The ethics guidelines for trustworthy AI set in 2019 by the high-level expert group on AI of the European Union recommended for an accountable, explainable and unbiased AI system. Three elements are laid emphasis upon:<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n