Important research

Shameful display among our betters

GOOGLE solves a lot of problems every day for millions of people trying to figure something out. What time does that new doughnut shop close? What’s a good recipe for stuffed peppers? What’s the weather like tomorrow—or 10 days from tomorrow?

We’ve got to credit the search engine. It’s a helpful tool.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai made a stop in Washington recently to speak to a congressional committee, and what our elected leaders displayed was a stunning amount of ignorance about how technology works.

Members of Congress don’t have to know how to code smartphone applications or build a website from scratch, but maybe they could do a little research, or ask a couple of young staffers about things, before meeting with one of the smartest technical minds in the country.

One Democratic congresswoman asked Mr. Pichai why President Trump’s picture pops up when somebody searches for “idiot.” He did his best to explain that Google’s search algorithms take into account hundreds of factors when pulling up results, including relevance, popularity, location, previous search history and more. It’s a complex process, but there’s no wizard inside your computer that pulls pranks on you or your search results.

Some congressmen displayed not just technological ignorance but spiteful disbelief. The Washington Post reports Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas) asked if Pichai had ever asked an employee to manipulate search results. It seems some Republicans feel as though Google has an inherent bias and manipulates its product to show more negative news about Republicans—to make them look bad, of course.

Never mind that there might be more left-leaning news outlets, and their staffs might be better at tweaking their websites to take advantage of Google’s search criteria. It’s not Google’s fault if the Huffington Post has a better Web staff than Fox News.

When the CEO told Rep. Smith that it was impossible for one person, or even a team of people, to manipulate the results due to its complexity and the number of steps needed to tweak Google’s search algorithm, the congressman refused to accept that explanation. He told the CEO, “Let me just say, I disagree. I think humans can manipulate the process. It is a human process at its base.”

Except it’s not. Google has spent two decades programming its algorithm to find the most relevant search results for users. And the company now lets artificial intelligence run its news section. That’s something the congressman could have learned if he’d spent 10 minutes Googling information before the hearing. He clearly didn’t do that.

Rep. Steve Chabot (R-Ohio) also complained about negative news articles that pop up when users search for topics like “Republican health-care bill.” And like his Texas counterpart, he also refused to accept Mr. Pichai’s explanation that there is no grand conspiracy at Google to use articles to harm the GOP. There aren’t teams of Google employees sitting in cubicles across the country purposely picking search results for users to be swayed to the left.

Rep. Chabot accused Google of picking winners and losers. The congressman continued, “There’s a lot of people that think what I’m saying here is happening. And I think it’s happening.”

Why call in an expert to testify before Congress if you’re going to disbelieve everything he says? If these congressmen just wanted someone to confirm their conspiracy theories, they could have saved Mr. Pichai the time and just had a conversation with their bathroom mirror.

Perhaps the best display of ignorance came from Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa). According to The Hill, the upset congressman asked Mr. Pichai why a photo of him and some explicit language popped up on his granddaughter’s iPhone as she played a game. The CEO of Google then had to explain his company doesn’t make the iPhone . . . Apple does. To which Mr. King replied it might have been an Android phone.

Well, which was it? And why did he not take the time to text his granddaughter to confirm which phone she has before wasting Mr. Pichai’s time? Not to mention the time of the House Judiciary Committee.

AMERICANS don’t expect every congressional leader to be an expert in tech the moment he sets foot in Washington. The problem is that Congress asked a Silicon Valley CEO to take a day off, fly across the country, and answer questions members could have found with a few minutes on the Internet. Or by asking a kid.

There’s an inherent danger to ignorance. Technology isn’t going anywhere barring some zombie apocalypse. But do we really want Congress writing regulations for technology it doesn’t understand? When the net neutrality debate was going on, it was embarrassing to listen to some elected leaders speak on a topic they obviously knew so little about. Lobbyists and special interest groups will take advantage of that ignorance, and that’s terrible for voters.

Do you think Gov. Asa Hutchinson knew everything there is to know about coding before pushing policy to require those classes be offered in our schools? Maybe not. But we’d guarantee he’s learned plenty on the issue since, certainly enough to have an intelligent conversation on the topic. Let’s hope in the future our elected (federal) leaders take time to learn a little more about technology beyond just checking their email, assuming their staff doesn’t do that for them.

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