Everything that is created by mankind is a reflection of themselves. “You are what you do”- a popular phrase that fits perfectly when we describe AI. Unlike other technology innovations, AI is a special one because it is expected to do things exactly the way a human does.
A prominent bias that still exists in society is gender bias. There have been a series of revolutions, some of which are ongoing, that have tried their best to mitigate this bias and provide equal opportunity to women. However, changing gender roles and thinking takes a while since it so deeply rooted in us.
In the case of AI, this can be seen when the technology is associating certain words to gender such as a doctor for men and nurses for women. There have been cases of facial recognition systems used for managing records being biased to women employees.
The problem is in the societal construct of the idea of gender roles and gender capabilities which shape a terribly influenced AI.
Why does it happen?
When we speak about creating artificial intelligence, it involves machine learning. A huge dataset is created that is added to an AI’s knowledge bank so it can learn from this data and respond. However, the dataset is created by humans who may have a bias knowingly or unknowingly. This bias is then learned by an AI system and shows up in its future operations.
How can it be prevented?
The datasets that are created should be as diverse as possible. More quantity of examples that highlights gender roles and capabilities would help the AI form its association. These examples should consist of everything- gender, nationalities, age bracket and more. Get people from different genders to participate by giving the correct word association and noticing if there is a bias.
Why is this so important, especially now?
This is an extremely important fix now and always has been. There has been a lot of struggle for mankind to get beyond these biases and present a fair opportunity to all. With a machine being taught otherwise, it brings us back to zero.
Like all industries are expected to practice workplace equality, AI is no exception. With new technologies and industries collaborating with AI, it is important women feel an equal part of this process and don’t have to fight age-old archaic treatment.
Artificial intelligence is being trained for so many incredible tasks such as mind-reading, psychological analysis, hiring the right people, education, finance, and so on. All these tasks are very personal to human beings and are a big part of their everyday life.
Societal biases, stereotypes, discrimination, and injustice should not exist in a world that is advancing so fast. If an AI is to work alongside humans, it has to function with humanity.
