PhotoTo the Editor:Re “The Ivory Tower Can’t Keep Ignoring Tech,” by Cathy O’Neil (Op-Ed, nytimes.com, Nov. 14):Ms. O’Neil is right to argue that the study of the effect and ethics of digital technology is urgent, important and deserving of more attention. But we disagree when she suggests that academics have been ignoring these issues. On the contrary, scholars have been studying this for decades, in fields including science and technology studies, the sociology of science, the history and philosophy of science, technology policy, applied ethics, law and computer science itself. As the effect of artificial intelligence and other algorithms in our lives becomes increasingly apparent, the call for such work is growing louder. STEPHEN CAVECAMBRIDGE, ENGLANDThe writer is executive director of the Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence at the University of Cambridge.

Source: New York Times November 21, 2017 18:56 UTC