We get the algorithms of our ground truths

What is it about?

Where do image-processing algorithms (and potentially many others) come from? This ethnographic study shows that they often derive from referential databases computer scientists call 'ground truths'. These ground-truths databases define the terms of the problems algorithms are supposed to solve computationally.

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Why is it important?

We often talk about the 'power' of algorithms and how they contribute to the shaping of the collective world. Is there a way to better compose with these supposedly abstract and inscrutable entities? This paper sketches an innovative answer: if ground-truth databases define the problems that algorithms are supposed to solve computationally, the construction processes of these ground truths are important situations to be investigated critically and creatively.

Perspectives