AFI DOCS 2020: Algorhymic Racial Bias Put on Blast in Coded Bias

When Apple introduced facial recognition technology on the iPhone, not one time, did it ever cross my mind that technology could betray me in the worst way possible. The very tool I was ecstatic about could prevent me from a job, buying a home or even confuse me with someone else.

While working on a project, MIT Media Lab researcher Joy Buolamwini investigated and discovered algorithms and data in artificial intelligence have a rather large gender and racial bias in their software created by tech companies. Her findings are just the beginning.   Did you know less than 14% of A.I .tech researchers are women? Nerdy, smart and ethnic proves to be a dangerous combination for the already privileged sector of society that was especially threatened when Joy’s research was made public by The New York Times in “Unmasking a Concern,

To date, over 117 million people in the United State have their face in a facial recognition network Currently there are nine companies (Facebook, Apple, Amazon, IBM, Google, Microsoft, Tencent, Alibaba and Baidu) building the future of artificial intelligence.  With facial recognition, we could very well find ourselves in a real life version the sci-fi films like Minority Report.

Yup, your view of the world could very roll back the progress of the Civil Rights and Black Lives Matter Movements due to a simple machine technicality with data.  We are navigating in unchartered waters that could prove to be our very downfall as a society.  With personal stories of prejudice, those fighting against it, revealing urgent threats to privacy and  democracy, Coded Bias is hooking us up with the tea you won’t find in the daily headlines. Nominated for the 2020 Sundance Grand Jury Prize, Directed, written and produced by Shalini Kantayya, its’s safe to say that the world will be in capable hands with women like these taking democracy to task.