Algorithmic decision systems routinely draw on large collections of data to establish correlations and infer information about consumers. Historically, human intermediaries designed and overlooked the operation and effectiveness of these decision systems. More recently, automated algorithms often operate with little or no human intermediation. Algorithmic interactions raise morally relevant questions when adopted by corporations: Does trust in algorithmic corporations necessarily give rise to moral obligations on the part of the trustee (the corporation) to the trustor (the consumer)? More fundamentally, can we appropriately talk about moral “trust” in relation to algorithmic corporations? Our tentative answer to these questions is “no”. To support this answer, this presentation considers the philosophical literature on trust and specifically the participant stance approach to trust.

Speaker: Sareh Pouryousefi, Toronto Metropolitan University