Uprooting Bias in Artificial Intelligence

About five years ago, it became evident that certain high-tech soap dispensers in a growing number of restrooms failed to recognize dark skin. The electronic devices, which were being installed in airports, office buildings and other public venues, remained stubbornly unresponsive when Black people tried to wash their hands. But related problems soon grew increasingly more serious — and then potentially deadly. The artificial intelligence underlying facial recognition technology was found to more frequently misidentify people of color than whites. Worse still, the software embedded in some autonomous — self-driving — cars didn’t recognize dark skin tones, a flaw that could turn the futuristic vehicles into lethal weapons on the road.

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