Joy Buolamwini: Fighting algorithmic bias needs to be ‘a priority’

Algorithmic Justice League founder Joy Buolamwini gave a speech during the World Economic Forum this week on the need to fight AI bias.

Buolamwini is also an MIT Media Lab researcher and went somewhat viral for her TED Talk in 2016 titled ‘How I’m fighting bias in algorithms’.

Her latest speech included a presentation in which Buolamwini went over an analysis of the current popular facial recognition algorithms.

Here were the overall accuracy results when...

24 January 2019 | Ethics

AI is sentencing people based on their ‘risk’ assessment

AI-powered tools for determining the risk of an individual are being used to make incarceration and sentencing decisions.

During the Data for Black Lives conference last weekend, several experts shared how AI is evolving America’s controversial prison system.

America imprisons more people than any other nation. It’s not just a result of the population of the country, the incarceration per head is the highest in the world at ~716 per 100,000 of the national...

22 January 2019 | Law Enforcement

Facebook pumps $7.5m into an independent AI ethics centre

An independent AI ethics research centre is set to receive $7.5 million of funding courtesy of the folks at Facebook.

The new research centre is called the Institute for Ethics in Artificial Intelligence and was created in collaboration with the Technical University of Munich (TUM).

Facebook, like many companies, is fighting outside concerns about the development of AI and its potential societal impact. The centre should help to ensure Facebook keeps up with ethical best...

21 January 2019 | Ethics

Speech and facial recognition combine to boost AI emotion detection

Researchers have combined speech and facial recognition data to improve the emotion detection abilities of AIs.

The ability to recognise emotions is a longstanding goal of AI researchers. Accurate recognition enables things such as detecting tiredness at the wheel, anger which could lead to a crime being committed, or perhaps even signs of sadness/depression at suicide hotspots.

Nuances in how people speak and move their facial muscles to express moods have presented a...

17 January 2019 | Face Recognition

Trump speech ‘DeepFake’ shows a present AI threat

A so-called ‘DeepFake’ video of a Trump speech was broadcast on a Fox-owned Seattle TV network, showing a very present AI threat.

The station, Q13, broadcasted a doctored Trump speech in which he somehow appeared even more orange and pulled amusing faces.

You can see a side-by-side comparison with the original below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZLs11uSg-A&feature=youtu.be

Following the broadcast, a Q13 employee was sacked. It’s unclear if...

14 January 2019 | Deep Learning

Most-funded AI startup SenseTime wants another $2bn

Not content with being the world’s most-funded AI startup, Chinese facial recognition darling SenseTime is preparing a $2 billion financing round.

SenseTime raised more than $1.2 billion last year; including a round announced in May that valued it at more than $4.5 billion.

According to Bloomberg sources, the company is aiming for $2 billion more funding but the information is private. The sources claim investor Alibaba is working on the...

11 January 2019 | China

Report: The public is unconvinced AI will benefit humanity

Decades of sci-fi flicks have instilled a fear of AI in some people – with a new report suggesting many remain unconvinced it will benefit humanity.

The report, from the Center for the Governance of AI based at Oxford University, reveals concerns artificial intelligence may harm or endanger humankind. 2,000 US adults were surveyed in 2018 for their views.

Baobao Zhang and Allan Dafoe, authors of the report, wrote in its summary:

“Public sentiments have...

10 January 2019 | Ethics

Capgemini: AI is a $340 billion opportunity for the retail sector

French digital consultation firm Capgemini predicts AI offers a yet untapped $340 billion opportunity for the retail sector.

Retail is a major focus of AI but there’s debate over whether it will have a positive or negative on society, especially with regards to jobs. Some believe AI will assist existing jobs while others take a view it will replace workers.

Capgemini found just one percent of retailers have achieved the level of AI deployment needed to reach its full...

2 January 2019 | Research

AI is at risk of bias due to serious gender gap problem

AI needs to be created by a diverse range of developers to prevent bias, but the World Economic Forum (WEF) has found a serious gender gap. Gender gaps in STEM careers have been a problem for some time, but it’s not often the end product matters what gender it was developed by. AI is about to be everywhere, and it matters that it’s representative of those it serves. In a report published this week, the WEF wrote:

“The equal contribution of women and men in...

18 December 2018 | Ethics

AI targets cryptocurrency ‘pump-and-dump’ schemes

Pump-and-dump schemes result in serious penalties in regulated markets, but in the wild west of cryptocurrencies, they’re a regular occurrence. For those unaware, a pump-and-dump is typically a group of individuals who use their combined buying power to artificially inflate the price of an asset before selling off near its peak. Outsiders believe the price is a sign of increased interest and end up buying high. Anonymous messaging app Telegram is often used for organising these groups,...

6 December 2018 | Blockchain