The data science resistance

"[D]ata scientists often lack the conceptual tools necessary to interrogate, resist, and reimagine the power relationships that shape their work", writes Chelsea Barabas, a doctoral student at the MIT Media Lab. She goes on to argue that those working with data (e.g. data scientists) need to understand how their work shapes power relationships and to refuse projects that are likely to produce harm. This would be a departure from the contemporary work flow of data scientists, who are generally concerned more with the abstract score metric of their models than the direct and indirect impact it can have on the world. Citing a growing body of literature analyzing this problem, and several personal examples and stories of professional dialogues among colleagues, this piece points towards a future where a significant backcurrent of data scientists may begin to question and challenge the value and goals of the work they are given, and raise the question of whether designer's consent matters in the creation of tools "that prioritize coercion and compliance over the provision of care."