She is the bestselling author of “Unmasking AI: My Mission to Protect What Is Human in a World of Machines.” She advises world leaders on preventing AI harm. Her MIT research on facial recognition technologies transformed the field of AI auditing. Her writing and work have been featured in publications including TIME Magazine, New York Times, Harvard Business Review, The Atlantic, and Rolling Stone. Dr. Joy is the protagonist of the Emmy-Nominated documentary, Coded Bias. She is a Rhodes Scholar, Fulbright Fellow, and recipient of the Technological Innovation Award from Martin Luther King Jr. Center. Fortune Magazine named her the "conscience of the AI revolution." Dr. Joy earned her Ph.D. from MIT
Any women with the power to influence what technologies your organizations are adopting, you have a critical role to play in asking essential questions. There is so much hype around AI that far too many organizations are pressing on without pausing to reflect. The most important question to ask is what value do I hope to see this system bring and what evidence exists that this new tool will add the desired value. Is this AI system fit for purpose? Do the promises match up to the reality? For example if you use AI in hiring is it actually reducing bias or amplifying bias. Amazon scratched an internal recruitment tool when they found continuous gender bias for selecting candidates for lucrative roles.
Sexism, ageism, ableism, racism, think of an -ism and it's being encoded into AI systems right now. I am worried that so much progress made for gender equality, for social justice, and for civil rights will be rolled back under the guise of machines that are presented as being more objective than humans. What gives me hope is that it isn't too late to course correct.
As a poet of code, I tell stories that make daughters of diasporas dream and sons of privilege pause. I am fortunate to have had opportunities to use both poetry and research to illuminate the societal impacts of artificial intelligence.
As you may have heard, artificial intelligence is infiltrating our lives, threatening to revert gains made for civil rights under the fiction of machine neutrality and objectivity. Unchecked and at times unwanted, these systems can determine your partner's job opportunities, your parent’s access to healthcare, your child’s access to college, and even lead to your wrongful arrest as was the case for Porcha Woodruff who was wrongfully arrested as a result of a false AI-powered facial recognition match and detained for a crime she did not commit: She was 8 months pregnant sitting in a holding cell.
I started the Algorithmic Justice League to serve the excoded, those who, like Porcha, face the burdens of AI systems while others reap the benefits. In an age of AI, gender equality requires algorithmic justice, reproductive justice requires algorithmic justice, and human rights necessitate data rights. We must create AI systems that embrace our humanity instead of erasing it. We must protect what makes us human.
I will offer a poem that recognizes those on the front line fighting against algorithmic injustice. In particular, this poem honors the marginalized tenant who successfully resisted the installation of an unwanted AI system as a key entry into their homes. They remind us of the change that is possible when we unite to demand conditions that enable us to live in a world where your hue is not a cue to dismiss your humanity.
To the excoded and the women in charge
Resisting and revealing the lie
That we must accept
The surrender of our faces
The harvesting of our data
The plunder of our traces
We celebrate your courage
No Silence
No Consent
You show the path to algorithmic justice requires a league
A sisterhood,
Fashioning a neighborhood,
Global gatherings
Sharpies and posters
Coalitions Petitions Testimonies, Letters
Research and potlucks
Dancing and music
Everyone playing a role to orchestrate change
To the excoded and freedom fighters around the world
Persisting and prevailing against
algorithms of oppression
automating inequality
through weapons of math destruction
we Stand with you in gratitude
You demonstrate the people have a voice and a choice.
When defiant melodies harmonize to elevate
human life, dignity, and rights.
The victory is ours.
Equitable AI requires that people have agency and control over how they interact with an AI system. To have agency, people must first be aware of how these systems are used all around them — for example, at airports, stadiums, schools, hospitals and in hiring and housing — who is involved in creating the system — from business, government and academia — and the risks and potential harms.
Accountable AI provides people who have been harmed with access to remedy, meaning that there is a working pathway for people to contest and correct a harmful decision made by artificial intelligence. For example, if an AI tool incorrectly denied a welfare benefits check, remedy would entail an easy way for the recipient to call attention to this error and receive payment plus interest for the lost time. If an AI system was suspected of disqualifying a job applicant based on gender or race, remedy would allow the applicant to discover how the decision was made and provide a basis for challenging the decision in court.
I used to underestimate the value of sleep, exercise, and healthy eating. I am at my creative best when my body is nourished, my mind is rested, and my relationships are cherished.
I admire Oprah Winfrey especially for using her platform to elevate important topics as she did on her recent special on AI and the Future.
Besides wifi, I need my koa wood acoustic guitar.
I am encouraged to see older leaders clearing the way for the next generation to blossom.
