Hey there, Ira here. If you're a regular listener to Science Friday, you know we've been having

conversations about the ethics of new artificial intelligence technology. Just recently,

sci-fright producer Christy Taylor spoke with two researchers, Deborah Raji of New York University's

AI Now Institute and Princeton University's Dr. Ruha Benjamin, about how AI can further

racial injustices. Our original radio interview covered the recent moves to limit police access

to facial recognition by companies like Amazon and Microsoft, at least temporarily.

They talked about where facial recognition is being used

and why it can disproportionately harm people of color simply because it's worse at identifying

people with darker skin. They also talked about why even when AI works correctly,

it's worth asking if we should use it at all.

That conversation should already have come through your local podcast feed. But wait, there's more.

Deborah and Ruha also talked about what they thought we should do instead. Practical steps for

AI researchers, tech companies, and lawmakers.

Since we didn't have time to air all of that, we're sharing that part of the conversation now.

Have a listen. So what is an AI researcher to do that is an ethical way to look at creating new

things and exploring new technologies.

Deb, I'll start with you.

My answer is a little bit lame, but the way that I think of, so by the way, this is a

conversation that is currently happening in the AI community, right?

There's been a lot of recent revelations around the ethics of the work, you know, really

reflecting on the impact of some of the work, you know, really reflecting on the impact

of some of the things that have come out of the AI community, including facial recognition,

...