I'm Catherine.

Rob: And hello, I'm Rob.

Catherine: Today we have another

technology topic.

Rob: Oh good! I love technology.

It makes things easier, it's fast and means I can

have gadgets.

Catherine: Do you think that technology

can actually do things better than humans?

Rob: For some things, yes. I think

cars that drive themselves will be safer than humans

but that will take away some of

the pleasure of driving. So I guess it

depends on what you mean by better.

Catherine: Good point, Rob. And that

actually ties in very closely with today's topic

which is technochauvinism.

Rob: What's that?

Catherine: We'll find out shortly, Rob, but

before we do, today's quiz question.

Artificial Intelligence, or A.I., is an area of

computer science that develops the

ability of computers to learn to do things

like solve problems or drive cars without crashing.

But in what decade was the

term 'Artificial Intelligence' coined?

Was it: a) the 1940s, b) the 1950s

or c) the 1960s?

Rob: I think it's quite a new expression

so I'll go for c) the 1960s.

Catherine: Good luck with that, Rob,

and we'll give you the answer later in the programme.

Now, let's get back to our

topic of technochauvinism.

Rob: I know what a chauvinist is.

It's someone who thinks that their country or

race or sex is better than others.

But how does this relate to technology?

Catherine: We're about to find out.

Meredith Broussard is Professor of Journalism at New York University

and she's written a book called Artificial Unintelligence.

She appeared on the BBC Radio 4 programme

“More or Less” to talk about it.

Listen carefully and find

out her definition of technochauvinism.

Meredith Broussard: Technochauvinism is

the idea that technology is always the highest and best solution.

So somehow over the past couple of decades

we got into the habit of

thinking that doing something with a computer

is always the best and most

objective way to do something and

that's simply not true.

Computers are not objective, they are

proxies for the people who make them.

Catherine: What is Meredith Broussard's

definition of technochauvinism?

Rob: It's this idea that using technology

is better than not using technology.

Catherine: She says that we have this idea

that a computer is objective.

Something that is objective is neutral, it doesn't have

an opinion, it's fair and it's unbiased

so it's the opposite of being a chauvinist.

But Meredith Broussard says this is not true.

Rob: She argues that computers are not

objective. They are proxies for the people that make them.

You might know the

word proxy when you are using your computer in one country

and want to look at something

that is only available in a different country.

You can use a piece of software

called a proxy to do that.

Catherine: But a proxy is also a person or

a thing that carries out your wishes and

your instructions for you.

So computers are only as smart or as

objective as the people that programme them.

Computers are proxies for their programmers.

Broussard says that believing too much in

Artificial Intelligence can make the world worse.

Let's hear a bit more. This time find out

what serious problems in society

does she think may be reflected in AI?

Meredith Broussard: It's a nuanced problem.

What we have is data on the world as it is

and we have serious problems with racism,

sexism, classism, ageism,

in the world right now so there is

no such thing as perfect data.

We also have a problem inside the tech world

where the creators of algorithms do not

have sufficient awareness of social issues

such that they can make good technology

that gets us closer to a world as it should be.

Rob: She said that society has problems

with racism, sexism, classism and ageism.

Catherine: And she says it's a nuanced problem.

A nuanced problem is not simple,

but it does have small and important areas

which may be hard to spot,

but they need to be considered.

Rob: And she also talked about

algorithms used to program these technological systems.

An algorithm is a set of instructions that

computers use to perform their tasks.

Essentially it's the rules that they use

to come up with their answers and

Broussard believes that technology will

reflect the views of those who create the algorithms.

Catherine: Next time you're using a piece

of software or your favourite app, you

might find yourself wondering if it's a

useful tool or does it contain these little

nuances that reflect the views of the developer.

Rob: Right, Catherine.

How about the answer to this week's question then?

Catherine: I asked in which decade was

the term 'Artificial Intelligence' coined.

Was it the 40s, the 50s or the 60s?

Rob: And I said the 60s.

Catherine: But it was actually the 1950s.

Never mind, Rob. Let's review today's vocabulary.

Rob: Well, we had a chauvinist - that's

someone who believes their country, race

or sex is better than any others.

Catherine: And this gives us technochauvinism,

the belief that a technological solution is

always a better solution to a problem.

Rob: Next - someone or something that is

objective is neutral, fair and balanced.

Catherine: A proxy is a piece of software

but also someone who does something for you, on your behalf.

A nuanced problem is a subtle

one, it's not a simple case of right or wrong,

in a nuanced problem there are small

but important things that you need to consider.

Rob: And an algorithm is a set of

software instructions for a computer system.

Catherine: Well, that's all we have time for today.

Goodbye for now.

Rob: Bye bye!