Book Bytes: Algorithms of Oppression

Algorithms of Oppression is an uncomfortable, but very important book to read, because it makes us uncomfortable.

I won't lie, it took me a while to get through Algorithms of Oppression by Dr. Safiya Omoja Noble. Don't get me wrong, it's a wonderful book and I cannot recommend it highly enough. But it was hard to read in the best possible way. Dr. Noble brings authenticity and emotionality to the issues of representation in search engine results that I wasn't expecting. But the discomfort the book caused me is what made me love it.

What appealed to me personally about her approach was my own background in cultural studies. Tying issues of representation, typically thought of in purely creative fields, to technical representation in such a compelling, evocative way really spoke to the neutral theorist in me.

It's so easy to to treat the search results as empirical, as if they represent reality. What Dr. Noble reminds us is that search engines are made by people, and people are not empirical. Our biases come out in our technology, especially when we aren't paying attention. It is, unironically, the basis for the entire discipline of Responsible Technology.

I can't begin to do justice to Dr. Noble's work for a lot of reasons. But if you want to understand not just the technical implications but also the actual lived experience consequences caused by reinforced stereotypes in technology, there's no better book to read. Bounce over to Amazon, and pick up your own copy. You won't be disappointed. Maybe a little uncomfortable, but not disappointed.

Do you have a suggestion for a book you think I should read? Let me know in the comments! I’m always on the lookout for more great books. Also, please consider subscribing, even for a month. Byte-Sized Ethics is an independent publication, and you support helps me keep it going — and really makes me feel great.