Joy Buolamwini at Wikimania 2018 in Cape Town, South Africa.Niccolò Caranti via Wikimedia Commons
Dr. Joy Buolamwini is a Canadian American digital activist known for her ground-breaking research into algorithmic bias and the potential harms of artificial intelligence (AI). Her non-profit organization, Algorithmic Justice League, is dedicated to ensuring that the companies and institutions using artificial intelligence in decision-making software are regulated and do not perpetuate various forms of discrimination.
Early Life and Education
Dr. Joy Buolamwini was born in Edmonton in Canada and grew up in Mississippi. At just nine years old, Buolamwini learned of Kismet, the robot head built by Dr. Cynthia Breazeal at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the 1990s.[1] Inspired, she began to teach herself JavaScript, PHP, and XHTML.[2] During her time as a student at Cordova High School (CHS) in Tennessee, Buolamwini was particularly interested in both science and sports; she played in the school basketball team and pole vaulted competitively.
After graduating from CHS, Buolamwini went on to study computer science at the Georgia Institute of Technology. She graduated in 2012 as a Stamps President’s Scholar. Georgia Tech’s Stamps President’s Scholars Program provides programmes, mentorship, and additional educational opportunities to the institute’s brightest students, with the hopes of encouraging their skills.[3] In addition to her being a Stamps scholar, Buolamwini is also a Fulbright fellow, Rhodes Scholar, Astronaut scholar, and Anita Borg Institute scholar.
Whilst on the Fulbright program, Buolamwini worked with a group of computer scientists in Zambia to teach young people in Zambia web and mobile development, enabling them to create technology and provide them with increased opportunities.[4] The Rhodes Scholarship sees postgraduate students from educational institutes across the globe invited to study at the prestigious University of Oxford in the United Kingdom.[5] Whilst at Oxford University, Buolamwini completed a master’s degree in education (Learning and Technology), before going on to receive another master’s degree (in Media Arts and Sciences) from MIT in 2017 and a doctorate degree in Media Arts and Sciences from the MIT Media Lab in 2022.
Algorithmic Bias
During these many years of research, Dr. Buolamwini came across a problem. When working with facial recognition and analysis software she found that the software could not identify her face, but it could identify the faces of her light-skinned classmates.[6] When facial recognition software is developed, the developers train it using various images of faces. Eventually, the software can detect the distinct features of faces. However, if the developers do not use a diverse set of images, then the software will not be trained to recognize faces that differ from those in the set used for training.[7]
This bias does not only apply to facial recognition and analysis software but a broad range of technology, particularly artificial intelligence (AI). Whilst inclusivity and diversity are always important, not making them a priority can have particularly detrimental effects when there are high stakes that have a direct impact on minority groups’ lives. As more companies and institutions begin to use AI and other types of software to inform decisions such as who to grant loans or mortgages to, who to hire, or whether someone will be granted admission to a college, it is becoming increasingly important that these algorithms and software are not built on a foundation of bias.
The Algorithmic Justice League
To combat this issue, Dr. Buolamwini founded The Algorithmic Justice League, a non-profit organization dedicated to raising awareness of the implications and effects of algorithmic bias through art, research, and policy advocacy, in 2016.[8] The organization began as a way for Buolamwini to group together and continue her various research projects on algorithmic bias but it quickly became more than a research-based organization, focusing on amplifying the voices of those harmed by bias, holding the companies and institutions using technology accountable if that technology perpetuates discrimination, and preventing bias from being a part of tech’s development in the first place.[9]
Learn more about The Algorithmic Justice League here.
Unmasking AI: My Mission to Protect What Is Human in a World of Machines
In 2023, Dr. Buolamwini published her debut book Unmasking AI: My Mission to Protect What Is Human in a World of Machines. Buolamwini shares her journey, detailing how and why her work became so heavily focused on the fight against algorithmic bias, as well as outlining the social impact that it has. In a quote taken from the book, Dr. Buolamwini explains:
You don't have to know precisely how biometric technologies work to know that when they are used for mass surveillance and invade your privacy, they do not make us safer by default. You don't have to know what a neural net is to know that if an AI system denies you a job because of your race, gender, age, disability, or skin color, something is wrong. You don't have to be an AI researcher to know that if companies take your creative work and use it to create products without permission and compensation, you have been wronged.[10]
Joy Buolamwini by Abbigail Mira
Joy Buolamwini, a short documentary by Ascot Avenue Elementary School student Abbigail Mira, is a finalist at the 20th Annual MY HERO International Film Festival. The film was created as part of the MY HERO Media Arts Education program at Ascot Elementary in Los Angeles.
Watch Abbigail’s film here.
Read more about the MY HERO Media Arts Education program here.
About the MY HERO International Film Festival:
The My Hero Film Festival is an annual event dedicated to showcasing films that celebrate the power of the human spirit. The festival provides a platform for filmmakers to share inspirational stories of everyday heroes. Thanks to generous sponsors, prizes are awarded to elementary, middle school, high school, college and professionals in a variety of categories including documentary, narrative, music video, animation, experimental, and more.
The festival aims to inspire audiences to recognize the heroism in their own lives and encourage positive actions in their communities. Learn more.
Join us in celebrating 20 years of The MY HERO International Film Festival on November 16, 6pm @ the Ann and Jerry Moss Theater at New Roads School in Santa Monica, California. Find out more HERE.
[1] Cohen, Arianne. The Digital Activist Taking Human Prejudice Out of Our Machines. [Online] Available https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-06-26/the-digital-activist-taking-human-prejudice-out-of-our-machines. 2017.
[2] Zamrize Media. Joy Buolamwini | Fulbright Fellow 2013 | Zambia. [Online] Available https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usWTUBFEJkk. 2013.
[3] https://stampsps.gatech.edu/
[4] Zamrize Media, 2013.
[5] https://www.rhodeshouse.ox.ac.uk/scholarships/the-rhodes-scholarship/
[6] TED. How I'm fighting bias in algorithms | Joy Buolamwini. [Online] Available https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UG_X_7g63rY. 2017.
[7] Ibid.
[9] Super Data Science: ML & AI Podcast with Jon Krohn. What is the Algorithmic Justice League? [Online] Available https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bmjt0QW3T7g. 2023.
[10] Buolamwini, Joy. Unmasking AI: My Mission to Protect What Is Human in a World of Machines. Random House Inc. 2023.
Page created on 10/29/2024 10:55:45 AM
Last edited 10/29/2024 11:05:26 AM
