No Arabic abstract
Efforts to make machine learning more widely accessible have led to a rapid increase in Auto-ML tools that aim to automate the process of training and deploying machine learning. To understand how Auto-ML tools are used in practice today, we performed a qualitative study with participants ranging from novice hobbyists to industry researchers who use Auto-ML tools. We present insights into the benefits and deficiencies of existing tools, as well as the respective roles of the human and automation in ML workflows. Finally, we discuss design implications for the future of Auto-ML tool development. We argue that instead of full automation being the ultimate goal of Auto-ML, designers of these tools should focus on supporting a partnership between the user and the Auto-ML tool. This means that a range of Auto-ML tools will need to be developed to support varying user goals such as simplicity, reproducibility, and reliability.
On Wikipedia, sophisticated algorithmic tools are used to assess the quality of edits and take corrective actions. However, algorithms can fail to solve the problems they were designed for if they conflict with the values of communities who use them. In this study, we take a Value-Sensitive Algorithm Design approach to understanding a community-created and -maintained machine learning-based algorithm called the Objective Revision Evaluation System (ORES)---a quality prediction system used in numerous Wikipedia applications and contexts. Five major values converged across stakeholder groups that ORES (and its dependent applications) should: (1) reduce the effort of community maintenance, (2) maintain human judgement as the final authority, (3) support differing peoples differing workflows, (4) encourage positive engagement with diverse editor groups, and (5) establish trustworthiness of people and algorithms within the community. We reveal tensions between these values and discuss implications for future research to improve algorithms like ORES.
The growing use of automated decision-making in critical applications, such as crime prediction and college admission, has raised questions about fairness in machine learning. How can we decide whether different treatments are reasonable or discriminatory? In this paper, we investigate discrimination in machine learning from a visual analytics perspective and propose an interactive visualization tool, DiscriLens, to support a more comprehensive analysis. To reveal detailed information on algorithmic discrimination, DiscriLens identifies a collection of potentially discriminatory itemsets based on causal modeling and classification rules mining. By combining an extended Euler diagram with a matrix-based visualization, we develop a novel set visualization to facilitate the exploration and interpretation of discriminatory itemsets. A user study shows that users can interpret the visually encoded information in DiscriLens quickly and accurately. Use cases demonstrate that DiscriLens provides informative guidance in understanding and reducing algorithmic discrimination.
With the growing ubiquity of wearable devices, sensed physiological responses provide new means to connect with others. While recent research demonstrates the expressive potential for biosignals, the value of sharing these personal data remains unclear. To understand their role in communication, we created Significant Otter, an Apple Watch/iPhone app that enables romantic partners to share and respond to each others biosignals in the form of animated otter avatars. In a one-month study with 20 couples, participants used Significant Otter with biosignals sensing OFF and ON. We found that while sensing OFF enabled couples to keep in touch, sensing ON enabled easier and more authentic communication that fostered social connection. However, the addition of biosignals introduced concerns about autonomy and agency over the messages they sent. We discuss design implications and future directions for communication systems that recommend messages based on biosignals.
Data science (DS) projects often follow a lifecycle that consists of laborious tasks for data scientists and domain experts (e.g., data exploration, model training, etc.). Only till recently, machine learning(ML) researchers have developed promising automation techniques to aid data workers in these tasks. This paper introduces AutoDS, an automated machine learning (AutoML) system that aims to leverage the latest ML automation techniques to support data science projects. Data workers only need to upload their dataset, then the system can automatically suggest ML configurations, preprocess data, select algorithm, and train the model. These suggestions are presented to the user via a web-based graphical user interface and a notebook-based programming user interface. We studied AutoDS with 30 professional data scientists, where one group used AutoDS, and the other did not, to complete a data science project. As expected, AutoDS improves productivity; Yet surprisingly, we find that the models produced by the AutoDS group have higher quality and less errors, but lower human confidence scores. We reflect on the findings by presenting design implications for incorporating automation techniques into human work in the data science lifecycle.
Building models from data is an integral part of the majority of data science workflows. While data scientists are often forced to spend the majority of the time available for a given project on data cleaning and exploratory analysis, the time available to practitioners to build actual models from data is often rather short due to time constraints for a given project. AutoML systems are currently rising in popularity, as they can build powerful models without human oversight. In this position paper, we aim to discuss the impact of the rising popularity of such systems and how a user-centered interface for such systems could look like. More importantly, we also want to point out features that are currently missing in those systems and start to explore better usability of such systems from a data-scientists perspective.