Skeptic Check: Data Bias

Big Picture Science

Sexist snow plowing? Data that guide everything from snow removal schedules to heart research often fail to consider gender. In these cases, “reference man” stands in for “average human.” Human bias also infects artificial intelligence, with speech recognition triggered only by male voices and facial recognition that can’t see black faces. We question the assumptions baked into these numbers and algorithms.

Guests:

• Caroline Criado-Perez - Journalist and author of “Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men”
• Kade Crockford - Director of the Technology for Liberty Program at the ACLU of Massachusetts
• Amy Webb - Futurist, founder and CEO of the Future Today Institute, and author of “The Big Nine: How the Tech Titans and There Thinking Machines Could Warp Humanity”

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