How I'm fighting bias in algorithms | Joy Buolamwini

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4.1 • 11.9K Ratings

🗓️ 9 March 2017

⏱️ 9 minutes

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Summary

MIT grad student Joy Buolamwini was working with facial analysis software when she noticed a problem: the software didn't detect her face -- because the people who coded the algorithm hadn't taught it to identify a broad range of skin tones and facial structures. Now she's on a mission to fight bias in machine learning, a phenomenon she calls the "coded gaze." It's an eye-opening talk about the need for accountability in coding ... as algorithms take over more and more aspects of our lives.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	This TED Talk features Poet of Code, Joy, Bulam Winnie, recorded live at TEDx Beacon Street, 2016.
0:18.6	Hello, I'm Joy, a poet of code on a mission to stop an unseen force that's rising, a force
0:27.7	that I called the coded gaze, my term for algorithmic bias.
0:33.3	Algorithmic bias like human bias results in unfairness.
0:37.3	However, algorithms like viruses can spread bias on a massive scale at a rapid pace.
0:45.8	Algorithmic bias can also lead to exclusionary experiences and discriminatory practices.
0:52.4	Let me show you what I mean. I've got a face.
0:57.0	Can you see my face?
1:00.0	No glasses face?
1:02.0	You can see her face.
1:05.0	What about my face?
1:07.0	Oh, I've got a mask. Can you see my mask? So how did this happen? Why am I sitting in front of a
1:21.7	computer in a white mask trying to be detected by a cheap webcam? Well, when I'm not fighting the coded gaze as a
1:30.4	poet of code, I'm a graduate student at the MIT Media Lab. And there, I have the opportunity to work on
1:37.6	all sorts of whimsical projects, including the Aspire Mirror. A project I did so I could project digital mask onto my reflection.
1:47.0	So in the morning, if I wanted to feel powerful, I could put on a lion.
1:51.0	If I wanted to be uplifted, I might have a quote.
1:54.0	So I used generic facial recognition software to build the system,
1:59.0	but found that it was really hard to test it unless if I wore a
2:02.7	white mask. Unfortunately, I've run into this issue before. When I was an undergraduate at Georgia
2:11.1	Tech studying computer science, I used to work on social robots, and one of my task was to get a robot to play peek-a-boo,
2:19.3	a simple turn-taking game where partners cover their face and then uncover it saying peek-a-boo.
	...

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