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How I'm fighting bias in algorithms

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    Hello, I'm Joy, a poet of code,
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    on a mission to stop
    an unseen force that's rising,
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    a force that I called "the coded gaze,"
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    my term for algorithmic bias.
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    Algorithmic bias, like human bias,
    results in unfairness.
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    However, algorithms, like viruses,
    can spread bias on a massive scale
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    at a rapid pace.
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    Algorithmic bias can also lead
    to exclusionary experiences
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    and discriminatory practices.
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    Let me show you what I mean.
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    (Video) Joy Boulamwini: Hi, camera.
    I've got a face.
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    Can you see my face?
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    No-glasses face?
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    You can see her face.
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    What about my face?
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    I've got a mask. Can you see my mask?
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    Joy Boulamwini: So how did this happen?
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    Why am I sitting in front of a computer
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    in a white mask,
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    trying to be detected by a cheap webcam?
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    Well, when I'm not fighting the coded gaze
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    as a poet of code,
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    I'm a graduate student
    at the MIT Media Lab,
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    and there I have the opportunity to work
    on all sorts of whimsical projects,
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    including the Aspire Mirror,
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    a project I did so I could project
    digital masks onto my reflection.
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    So in the morning, if I wanted
    to feel powerful,
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    I could put on a lion.
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    If I wanted to be uplifted,
    I might have a quote.
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    So I used generic
    facial recognition software
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    to build the system,
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    but found it was really hard to test it
    unless I wore a white mask.
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    Unfortunately, I've run
    into this issue before.
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    When I was an undergraduate
    at Georgia Tech studying computer science,
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    I used to work on social robots,
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    and one of my tasks was to get a robot
    to play peek-a-boo,
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    a simple turn-taking game
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    where partners cover their face
    and then uncover it saying, "Peek-a-boo!"
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    The problem is, peek-a-boo
    doesn't really work if I can't see you,
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    and my robot couldn't see me.
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    But I borrowed my roommate's face
    to get the project done,
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    submitted the assignment,
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    and figured, you know what,
    somebody else will solve this problem.
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    Not too long after,
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    I was in Hong Kong
    for an entrepreneurship competition.
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    The organizers decided
    to take participants
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    on a tour of local start-ups.
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    One of the start-ups had a social robot,
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    and they decided to do a demo.
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    The demo worked on everybody
    until it got to me,
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    and you can probably guess it.
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    It couldn't detect my face.
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    I asked the developers what was going on,
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    and it turned out we had used the same
    generic facial recognition software.
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    Halfway around the world,
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    I learned that algorithmic bias
    can travel as quickly
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    as it takes to download
    some files off of the internet.
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    So what's going on?
    Why isn't my face being detected?
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    Well, we have to look
    at how we give machines sight.
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    Computer vision uses
    machine learning techniques
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    to do facial recognition.
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    So how this works is, you create
    a training set with examples of faces.
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    This is a face. This is a face.
    This is not a face.
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    And over time, you can teach a computer
    how to recognize other faces.
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    However, if the training sets
    aren't really that diverse,
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    any face that deviates too much
    from the established norm
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    will be harder to detect,
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    which is what was happening to me.
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    But don't worry -- there's some good news.
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    Training sets don't just
    materialize out of nowhere.
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    We actually can create them.
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    So there's an opportunity to create
    full-spectrum training sets
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    that reflect a richer
    portrait of humanity.
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    Now you've seen in my examples
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    how social robots
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    was how I found out about exclusion
    with algorithmic bias.
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    But algorithmic bias can also lead
    to discriminatory practices.
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    Across the US,
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    police departments are starting to use
    facial recognition software
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    in their crime-fighting arsenal.
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    Georgetown Law published a report
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    showing that one in two adults
    in the US -- that's 117 million people --
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    have their faces
    in facial recognition networks.
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    Police departments can currently look
    at these networks unregulated,
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    using algorithms that have not
    been audited for accuracy.
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    Yet we know facial recognition
    is not fail proof,
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    and labeling faces consistently
    remains a challenge.
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    You might have seen this on Facebook.
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    My friends and I laugh all the time
    when we see other people
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    mislabeled in our photos.
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    But misidentifying a suspected criminal
    is no laughing matter,
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    nor is breaching civil liberties.
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    Machine learning is being used
    for facial recognition,
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    but it's also extending beyond the realm
    of computer vision.
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    In her book, "Weapons
    of Math Destruction,"
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    data scientist Cathy O'Neil
    talks about the rising new WMDs --
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    widespread, mysterious
    and destructive algorithms
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    that are increasingly being used
    to make decisions
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    that impact more aspects of our lives.
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    So who gets hired or fired?
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    Do you get that loan?
    Do you get insurance?
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    Are you admitted into the college
    you wanted to get into?
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    Do you and I pay the same price
    for the same product
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    purchased on the same platform?
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    Law enforcement is also starting
    to use machine learning
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    for predictive policing.
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    Some judges use machine-generated
    risk scores to determine
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    how long an individual
    is going to spend in prison.
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    So we really have to think
    about these decisions.
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    Are they fair?
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    And we've seen that algorithmic bias
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    doesn't necessarily always
    lead to fair outcomes.
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    So what can we do about it?
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    Well, we can start thinking about
    how we create more inclusive code
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    and employ inclusive coding practices.
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    It really starts with people.
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    So who codes matters.
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    Are we creating full-spectrum teams
    with diverse individuals
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    who can check each other's blind spots?
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    On the technical side,
    how we code matters.
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    Are we factoring in fairness
    as we're developing systems?
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    And finally, why we code matters.
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    We've used tools of computational creation
    to unlock immense wealth.
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    We now have the opportunity
    to unlock even greater equality
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    if we make social change a priority
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    and not an afterthought.
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    And so these are the three tenets
    that will make up the "incoding" movement.
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    Who codes matters,
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    how we code matters
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    and why we code matters.
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    So to go towards incoding,
    we can start thinking about
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    building platforms that can identify bias
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    by collecting people's experiences
    like the ones I shared,
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    but also auditing existing software.
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    We can also start to create
    more inclusive training sets.
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    Imagine a "Selfies for Inclusion" campaign
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    where you and I can help
    developers test and create
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    more inclusive training sets.
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    And we can also start thinking
    more conscientiously
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    about the social impact
    of the technology that we're developing.
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    To get the incoding movement started,
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    I've launched the Algorithmic
    Justice League,
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    where anyone who cares about fairness
    can help fight the coded gaze.
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    On codedgaze.com, you can report bias,
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    request audits, become a tester
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    and join the ongoing conversation,
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    #codedgaze.
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    So I invite you to join me
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    in creating a world where technology
    works for all of us,
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    not just some of us,
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    a world where we value inclusion
    and center social change.
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    Thank you.
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    (Applause)
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    But I have one question:
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    Will you join me in the fight?
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    (Laughter)
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    (Applause)
Title:
How I'm fighting bias in algorithms
Speaker:
Joy Buolamwini
Description:

MIT grad student Joy Buolamwini was working with facial recognition software when she noticed a problem: the software didn't recognize 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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Video Language:
English
Team:
closed TED
Project:
TEDTalks
Duration:
08:46

English subtitles

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