#161 Fighting for Algorithmic Justice with Joy Buolamwini, President, The Algorithmic Justice League

In 2015 an MIT Researcher set out to build a mirror that would augment their face to look like those of their idols. The execution of this went well, until it came to testing. When the researcher came to use the mirror, no face was detected. The researcher was not detected in the mirror until she put on a white mask, at which point, the mirror worked as expected. Three years later, a paper named ‘Gender Shades: Intersectional Accuracy Disparities in Commercial Gender Classification’ was published by the same researcher. Its release started a wider conversation about bias within AI-based facial recognition systems, and about bias within AI in general. Work to fight against algorithmic bias, or ‘The Coded-Gaze’, has been ongoing since. But who spearheaded this work and highlighted these issues to the AI and tech community? Dr. Joy Buolamwini is an AI researcher, artist, and advocate. She founded the Algorithmic Justice League to create a world with more equitable and accountable technology. Her TED Featured Talk on algorithmic bias has over 1.5 million views. Her MIT thesis methodology uncovered large racial and gender bias in AI services from companies like Microsoft, IBM, and Amazon. Her research has been covered in over 40 countries, and as a renowned international speaker she has championed the need for algorithmic justice at the World Economic Forum and the United Nations. She serves on the Global Tech Panel convened by the vice president of European Commission to advise world leaders and technology executives on ways to reduce the harms of A.I. As a creative science communicator, she has written op-eds on the impact of artificial intelligence for publications like TIME Magazine and New York Times. Her spoken word visual audit "AI, Ain't I A Woman?" which shows AI failures on the faces of iconic women like Oprah Winfrey, Michelle Obama, and Serena Williams as well as the Coded Gaze short have been part of exhibitions ranging from the Museum of Fine Arts, Bost