[Advisors] rightscon declaration from Toronto mtg.

[Brian Beaton]

Thanks for sharing this one Marita .. I think this is an important
beginning document that we might want to consider as a building block
instead of just signing onto it .. Maybe I am just adverse to signing onto
anything that is labelled as ³The Toronto Declaration² [smiles] .. This
document might work for those in that city or wherever the original
version comes from but I would hope TC is more representative of all of
Canada ..

Some thoughts for everyone¹s consideration ..

* The lack of any reference in this document to the digital divides and
realities that exist in Canada between urban and remote/rural communities;
infrastructure gaps and realities across the country; access to resources
to create and sustain equitable infrastructure; etc are very problematic
in this document.

* I am also concerned about the language throughout the document that
seems to me to simply continue the type of competitive, white, male
dominated aspects of this industry. I think these types of ³declarations²
by well-intended folks need to also include recognizing and respecting the
work that is necessary to protect the land, water, environment that
provides for our survival. Recognizing gender biases in the document might
also help me feel better about it ..

* Maybe in my quick scan of this document (I might be wrong here [smiles])
but I find this effort to address AI challenges to be very fear-based;
i.e. We need to be protected from this unknown entity that industry is
utilizing or might be utilizing in the future. I think we need to be doing
better as we challenge any misuse of machines by industry to create
inequities and problems in our society.

This declaration might be useful in the hands of the right politician who
is willing to start creating laws, programs and policies to address AI but
as it stands I think it continues to leave many folks in the dark about
the challenges ahead of us. I guess my question would be ³how is it in our
interest to sign onto something like this document?"

I think I will stop here to see what others think .. Brian


On 2018-05-20, 2:10 PM, "Marita Moll" <mmoll at ca.inter.net> wrote:

>The Toronto Declaration: protecting the right to equality and
>non-discrimination in machine learning systems
>
>https://www.accessnow.org/the-toronto-declaration-protecting-the-rights-to
>-equality-and-non-discrimination-in-machine-learning-systems/
>
>This declaration is open for sign on by organizations. Should TC sign on
>to this?
>
>Marita
>_______________________________________________
>Advisors mailing list
>Advisors at tc.ca
>http://victoria.tc.ca/mailman/listinfo/advisors