Different aspects of society are guided by algorithms that act as standards for decision making. Decisions such as job interviews, places in college or even loans have been assigned to algorithms and society seems to be losing touch with the critical role played by the human mind and decision making (Mittelstadt et al., 2016) . Much is not understood about the position of algorithms in society and all aspects that surround it. Critically, it is important to identify the ethics that surround algorithms as they eventually become tools for crucial decision making in society.
One issue of concern in the use of algorithm is the presence of bias. Obermeyer et al., (2019) identify that algorithms applied in healthcare exhibit patient outcomes that are significantly biased. The algorithm used shows that healthcare costs are equally distributed across the board when in reality, more is spent on caring for white than black patients. Similarly, different aspects of society with implemented algorithms are highly biased on the grounds of sexuality and gender indicating the unequal access to economic, social and political resources for the disadvantaged groups (Noble, 2018).
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Consequently, the use of algorithms is marred by immense ethical concerns. These algorithms challenge autonomy in some instances where decisions may be made for the subjects (Mittelstadt et al., 2016) . As aforementioned, they encourage immense discrimination and bias as encouraged by the proxies used therein which produce data that is highly segregated by gender, sexuality and race (Mittelstadt et al., 2016) . They also present challenges to informational privacy where in many instances, people will have little to no control over their information and access could be granted to third parties. Many of the data sets produced by algorithms are often inconclusive meaning that the likelihood of making unjustified actions increases. Issues of transparency also classify this technology as information produced is poorly explained or predicted (Mittelstadt et al., 2016) .
Undoubtedly, the use of algorithms is surrounded by many areas of concerns especially its ethical adherence. Many groups and individuals are disadvantaged and are likely to miss out on social, political and economic opportunities due to the bias present in algorithms. Other ethical challenges include discrimination, lack of transparency, decreased informational privacy and the potential lack of autonomy.
References
Mittelstadt, B., Allo, P., Taddeo, M., Wachter, S., & Floridi, L. (2016). The ethics of algorithms: Mapping the debate. Big Data & Society , 3 (2), 205395171667967. https://doi.org/10.1177/2053951716679679
Noble, S. (2018). Missed connections: What search engines say about women . Safiyaunoble.files.wordpress.com. Retrieved 2 April 2021, from https://safiyaunoble.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/54_search_engines.pdf .
Obermeyer et al. (2019). Dissecting racial bias in an algorithm used to manage the health of populations. Yearbook Of Paediatric Endocrinology , 366 (6464), 447-453. https://doi.org/10.1530/ey.17.12.7
