Calling Bullshit: The Art of Skepticism in a Data-Driven World

by Carl T. Bergstrom

If we do a good job of educating people in media literacy and critical thinking, the problem of misinformation and disinformation can be solved from the bottom up.

To tell an honest story, it is not enough for numbers to be correct. They need to be placed in an appropriate context so that a reader or listener can properly interpret them. One thing that people often overlook is that presenting the numbers by themselves doesn’t mean that the numbers have been separated from any context. The choices one makes about how to represent a numerical value sets a context for that value.

something can be true and still bullshit of a sort.

Never assume malice or mendacity when incompetence is a sufficient explanation, and never assume incompetence when a reasonable mistake can explain things.

All you have to do to spot problems is to think about the training data and the labels that are fed into the algorithm.

Researchers and technologists spend far too much time focusing on the sexy what-might-be, and far too little time on the important what-is.

to address the problems that AI is creating now, we need to understand the data and algorithms we are already using for more mundane purposes.

Identifying fake news, detecting sarcasm, creating humor—for now, these are areas in which machines fall short of their human creators.

To call bullshit on the newest AI startup, it is often sufficient to ask for details about the training data. Where did it come from? Who labeled it? How representative is the data?

Reductio ad absurdum can be fun and effective but nothing is as devastating to specious arguments as a simple counterexample.

We use analogies often, because they help recontextualize claims that may seem reasonable at first glance. By drawing parallels between an unfamiliar situation and an example your audience intuitively understands, you encourage them to trust their own critical thinking abilities.

We use analogies often, because they help recontextualize claims that may seem reasonable at first glance. By drawing parallels between an unfamiliar situation and an example your audience intuitively understands, you encourage them to trust their own critical thinking abilities. Dumb down for your audience and boost their confidence lethal capable of thinking for themselves