Roles for Computing in Social Change
Rediet Abebe, Solon Barocas, Jon Kleinberg, Karen Levy, Manish, Raghavan, David G. Robinson

TL;DR
This paper explores four roles that computing can play in social change, emphasizing its potential to diagnose, define, challenge, and highlight social issues while acknowledging inherent risks and limitations.
Contribution
It introduces four specific roles for computational research in social change—diagnostic, formalizer, rebuttal, and synecdoche—highlighting their opportunities and risks.
Findings
Computing can precisely diagnose social problems.
It can shape understanding through formalization.
It can raise awareness by highlighting issues publicly.
Abstract
A recent normative turn in computer science has brought concerns about fairness, bias, and accountability to the core of the field. Yet recent scholarship has warned that much of this technical work treats problematic features of the status quo as fixed, and fails to address deeper patterns of injustice and inequality. While acknowledging these critiques, we posit that computational research has valuable roles to play in addressing social problems -- roles whose value can be recognized even from a perspective that aspires toward fundamental social change. In this paper, we articulate four such roles, through an analysis that considers the opportunities as well as the significant risks inherent in such work. Computing research can serve as a diagnostic, helping us to understand and measure social problems with precision and clarity. As a formalizer, computing shapes how social problems…
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Taxonomy
TopicsSocial Media and Politics · Ethics and Social Impacts of AI
