bots-as-digital-infrapunctures/content/Section 2 - Harm in Computational Infrastructures/1-introduction.md

Title: Introduction: Harms in Computational Infrastructures
Slug: 01-s2-introduction
Date: 2020-11-01 12:00
Summary: How to correct, shift or expose harms in computational infrastructures?

<!-- > Our concern is that the computational infrastructures are far more than a technological ecosystem alone. Like all infrastructure, they incentivize us to embed their values, and therewith much of their politics in the lower layers of the technology stack. Comparable to the cables and control equipment in electrical networks that determine what can and cannot be connected to it, computational infrastructures embed constraints on what can and cannot be built on top of it, as well as what is accessible to those needing to audit or validate its functionality.[^progammableinfrastructures] -->

<!-- What are computational infrastructures? -->

<!-- Who designs them? What values do they embed into digital systems?  -->

In this section we will unpack how computational infrastructures operate and what impact that has on the digital systems that are being built on top of them.

We will introduce the work of Seda Gürses and dive with her into the following questions: 

* What are computational infrastructures? 
* What are elements that shape (or are shaped by) computational infrastructures?
* How can we understand the harm caused by computational infrastructures and the systems which deploy them?
* What interventions are possible to mitigate or eliminate this harm?
* What kind of limitations do you see in the realisation of these interventions? 

<!-- Her work focuses on privacy enhancing and protective optimization technologies (PETs and POTs), privacy engineering, as well as questions around software infrastructures, social justice and political economy as they intersect with computer science. -->

<!-- We propose Protective Optimization Technologies (POTs). POTs, provide means for affected parties to address the negative impacts of systems in the environment, expanding avenues for political con- testation. POTs intervene from outside the system, do not require service providers to cooperate, and can serve to correct, shift, or expose harms that systems impose on populations and their environments. We illustrate the potential and limitations of POTs in two case studies: countering road congestion caused by traffic-beating applications, and recalibrating credit scoring for loan applicants. -->