As you will see in the following chapters, algorithmic biases originate in or mirror human cognitive biases in many ways. The best way to start understanding algorithmic biases is therefore to understand human biases. And while colloquially “bias” is often deemed to be a bad thing that considerate, well-meaning people would eschew, it actually is central to the way the human brain works. The reason is that nature needs to solve for three competing objectives simultaneously: accuracy, speed, and (energy) efficiency.
Accuracy is an obvious objective. If you are ...
