Bias

Here Are 13 Subtle Ways Statistics Can Deceive You
No one can argue with statistics because they are hard facts. — are they really? By this time, a lot of us have done a great job realising that not everything we see on the internet is true. Some of the information we receive is deliberately manipulated in order to influence our behavior or our …

Algorithms Trace How Stereotypes Have Changed
Word embeddings—an algorithmic technique that can map relationships and associations between words—can measure changes in gender and ethnic stereotypes over the past century in the United States. Researchers analyzed large databases of American books, newspapers, and other texts and looked at how those linguistic changes correlated with actual US Census demographic data and major social …

To Make Sense Of AI Decisions, ‘Peek Under The Hood’
Now that humans have programmed computers to learn, we want to know exactly what they’ve learned and how they make decisions after their learning process is complete. The answers to such questions could shed light on our own decision-making processes. Kate Saenko, an associate professor of computer science at Boston University, asked humans to look …

Algorithms Might Be Everywhere, But Like Us, They’re Deeply Flawed
What’s the problem? As algorithms become entrenched into society, the debate about their effects rages on. In essence, algorithms are sequences of instructions used to solve problems and perform functions in computer programming. As mathematical expressions, algorithms existed long before modern computers. While they vary in application, all algorithms have three things in common: clearly-defined …

An Intelligence In Our Image: The Risks Of Bias And Errors In Artificial Intelligence
Right now, artificial intelligence (AI) and countless algorithms are integrated into our daily life. Because of the efficiency they bring into the table, the use of AI is only expected to widen. With humanity becoming more and more reliant on this technology, it is only natural to think about the implications. In contrast to the common …

AI Is In Danger Of Becoming Too Male – New Research
Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems are becoming smarter every day, beating world champions in games like Go, identifying tumours in medical scans better than human radiologists, and increasing the efficiency of electricity-hungry data centres. Some economists are comparing the transformative potential of AI with other “general purpose technologies” such as the steam engine, electricity or the …

Tackling Bias In Artificial Intelligence
Our use of Artificial Intelligence is growing along with advancements in the field. It has gone to the point that it is used in riskier areas such as hiring, criminal justice, and healthcare. This is with the hope the AI will provide less biased results compared to humans. In their paper, Jake Silberg and James …

Algorithms Are Opinions, Not Truth Machines, And Demand The Application Of Ethics
It can be easy to simply accept algorithms as indisputable mathematic truths. After all, who wants to spend their spare time deconstructing complex equations? But make no mistake: algorithms are limited tools for understanding the world, frequently as flawed and biased as the humans who create and interpret them. In this brief animation, which was adapted …