Claims of the Internet being racist are ideologically flawed. Technology takes on the characteristics of its creators, and simply because it’s creators are racist, sexist, bias, etc does not mean that the technology itself is. It may simply be applied in a prejudiced manner, not be inherently prejudiced. The paranoid insecurity that the internet is out to get anyone is something that sounds like it belongs in bad scifi to me. Being kinder, it sounds like a normal human response to a dirty truth; that people are prejudiced, and it is scary to admit that the people around you are potentially harmful or dangerous, even if only  just emotionally.

The internet is a tool of connection and by observing the interactions, we can reveal human nature, and in turn use this to capitalize on our fellow man. The basis of data analysis is to find ways of quantifying the reality of a situation. Unfortunately, the reality of the situation is that people are racist, sexist, etc. Google can only do so much to teach an AI or algorithm to identify and mediate the populations’ mind set and core values. For example, Google’s search engine is designed to find the most relevant information given a topic assumedly. What is most relevant is “found” by algorithmic means, but what “is” most relevant is decided by the human beings that are being observed by said means. This means that the philosophically perfect AI, who does nothing but use its’ capacity to promote its developers’ goals, will be ideologically corrupt…because it is directed by people. Another way of saying this is that if technology built to reveal the answers to human nature were built to be perfectly neutral, they would eventually become bias if they are designed to learn from human behavior and interaction.

The sad fact is that the wealth of human interaction data provided by the internet shows us just how imperfect we are. The technology will never stop being biased unless we stop interacting with it, or all become enlightened overnight. With the reality that the internet reveals to us our darker less admirable natures, is not a surprise that people try and blame the technology for its’ nature when clearly the nature of its’ users dictates the technology. Algorithmic Oppression is simply machines acting like people, and that is unavoidable, since we made the machines. Ideally, we would create an AI that shows us all the path to harmony and nirvana, but that won’t happen. The fact that the technology to reveal just how judgmental, biased, and fickle people actually are exists is a blessing. You can only confront problems that you are aware of.