A case study: Ethics alone are not enough to ensure fairness in algorithmic systems.

@_KarenHao on the UK's A-level mess with quotes from me, @FryRsquared and @techchildrights
https://www.technologyreview.com/2020/08/20/1007502/uk-exam-algorithm-cant-fix-broken-system/

The best minds in AI ethics are not even one step removed from this mess.

The goals here were clear: preserve standardisation in unprecedented times. But public trust? Fairness? Equity? People in charge ranked those goals lower than that of standardising marks across schools. But absence of 'ground truth' here -- 2020 individual exam results --> FAIL.

We need instead to understand how these systems are rolled out in practice -- not just open the so-called black box but what's around that box: who built it, who is using it, what are they doing with it, who do they think it is for, what do people know/THINK they know about it.

How are we all going to be alert for the next time this happens? And trust me, this won't be the last that people will be shouting in the streets '*&^% the algorithm'.