[4] For Sheila Jasanoff these technologies of quantification can be labeled as 'Technologies of hubris',[5] whose function is to reassure the public while keeping the wheels of science and industry turning.
Jasanoff contrasts technologies of hubris with 'technologies of humility'[6] which admit the existence of ambiguity, indeterminacy and complexity, and strive to bring to the surface the ethical nature of problems.
Technologies of humility are also sensitive to the need to alleviate known causes of people’s vulnerability, to pay attention to the distribution of benefits and risks, and to identify those factors and strategies which may promote or inhibit social learning.
For Sally Engle Merry, studying indicators of human rights, gender violence and sex trafficking, quantification is a technology of control, but whether it is reformist or authoritarian depends on who has harnessed its power and for what purpose.
She notes in order to make indicators less misleading and distorting some principles should be followed:[7] The field of algorithms and artificial intelligence is the regime of quantification where the discussion about ethics, is more advanced, see e.g.