Towards a Non-Ideal Methodological Framework for Responsible ML

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Mothilal, Ramaravind Kommiya, Guha, Shion, Ahmed, Syed Ishtiaque
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
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author Mothilal, Ramaravind Kommiya
Guha, Shion
Ahmed, Syed Ishtiaque
author_facet Mothilal, Ramaravind Kommiya
Guha, Shion
Ahmed, Syed Ishtiaque
contents Though ML practitioners increasingly employ various Responsible ML (RML) strategies, their methodological approach in practice is still unclear. In particular, the constraints, assumptions, and choices of practitioners with technical duties -- such as developers, engineers, and data scientists -- are often implicit, subtle, and under-scrutinized in HCI and related fields. We interviewed 22 technically oriented ML practitioners across seven domains to understand the characteristics of their methodological approaches to RML through the lens of ideal and non-ideal theorizing of fairness. We find that practitioners' methodological approaches fall along a spectrum of idealization. While they structured their approaches through ideal theorizing, such as by abstracting RML workflow from the inquiry of applicability of ML, they did not pay deliberate attention and systematically documented their non-ideal approaches, such as diagnosing imperfect conditions. We end our paper with a discussion of a new methodological approach, inspired by elements of non-ideal theory, to structure technical practitioners' RML process and facilitate collaboration with other stakeholders.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2401_11131
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Towards a Non-Ideal Methodological Framework for Responsible ML
Mothilal, Ramaravind Kommiya
Guha, Shion
Ahmed, Syed Ishtiaque
Human-Computer Interaction
Though ML practitioners increasingly employ various Responsible ML (RML) strategies, their methodological approach in practice is still unclear. In particular, the constraints, assumptions, and choices of practitioners with technical duties -- such as developers, engineers, and data scientists -- are often implicit, subtle, and under-scrutinized in HCI and related fields. We interviewed 22 technically oriented ML practitioners across seven domains to understand the characteristics of their methodological approaches to RML through the lens of ideal and non-ideal theorizing of fairness. We find that practitioners' methodological approaches fall along a spectrum of idealization. While they structured their approaches through ideal theorizing, such as by abstracting RML workflow from the inquiry of applicability of ML, they did not pay deliberate attention and systematically documented their non-ideal approaches, such as diagnosing imperfect conditions. We end our paper with a discussion of a new methodological approach, inspired by elements of non-ideal theory, to structure technical practitioners' RML process and facilitate collaboration with other stakeholders.
title Towards a Non-Ideal Methodological Framework for Responsible ML
topic Human-Computer Interaction
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2401.11131