Tech pundits presume artificial intelligence is something you either conquer or succumb to. But they’re looking at it all wrong.
By Andrea Grimes for Dame Magazine on April 11, 2023
It’s become increasingly difficult to know when your secrets are safe.
By Alejandra Caraballo for Slate Magazine on February 24, 2022
In 2019, former UN Special Rapporteur Philip Alston said he was worried we were “stumbling zombie-like into a digital welfare dystopia.” He had been researching how government agencies around the world were turning to automated decision-making systems (ADS) to cut costs, increase efficiency and target resources. ADS are technical systems designed to help or replace human decision-making using algorithms.
By Joanna Redden for Parental social licence for data linkage for service intervention on October 5, 2022
A report validated Palestinian experiences of social media censorship in May 2021, but missed how those policies are biased by design.
By Marwa Fatafta for +972 Magazine on October 9, 2022
The Markup found the state’s decade-old dropout prediction algorithms don’t work and may be negatively influencing how educators perceive students of color.
By Todd Feathers for The Markup on April 27, 2023
Evelyn dook deze week in de (allesbehalve mannelijke) wereld van glitch art, hebben we het over het algoritme dat jarenlang door de Gemeente Rotterdam is gebruikt om te voorspellen wie van de bijstandsgerechtigden zou kunnen knoeien met hun uitkering en bellen we in met podcast-kopstuk Lieven Heeremans.
By Evely Austin, Inge Wannet, Joran van Apeldoorn, Lieven Heeremans and Nadia Benaissa for Bits of Freedom on April 15, 2023
Yesterday, the Court of Appeal for British Columbia handed down a jaw-droppingly stupid and terrible decision, rejecting the whistleblower Ian Linkletter’s claim that he was engaged in legitimate criticism when he linked to freely available materials from the ed-tech surveillance company Proctorio.
By Cory Doctorow for Pluralistic on April 20, 2023
Je kunt tegenwoordig niet meer om AI heen. Of het nu om chatGPT gaat of om de app Lensa AI, wie zich in het digitale veld begeeft komt er vroeg of laat mee in aanraking. De balans opmaken op de vraag ‘is AI goed of slecht?’ is lastig, zeker omdat het nog niet zo wijdverbreid gebruikt wordt. Maar als we de experts mogen geloven, gaat dat in de toekomst anders zijn. De hoogste tijd voor de prijswinnende fotograaf Cigdem Yuksel om te onderzoeken wat het gebruik van AI betekent voor de beeldvorming van moslima’s. Lilith Magazine sprak met Yuksel en met Laurens Vreekamp, schrijver van the Art of AI.
By Aimée Dabekaussen, Cigdem Yuksel and Laurens Vreekamp for Lilith on April 6, 2023
The application of face recognition technology in the criminal justice system threatens to perpetuate racial inequality.
By Alex Najibi for Science in the News on October 24, 2020
Cities and counties across the country have banned government use of face surveillance technology, and many more are weighing proposals to do so. From Boston to San Francisco, Jackson, Mississippi to Minneapolis, elected officials and activists know that face surveillance gives police the power to track us wherever we go. It also disproportionately impacts people of color, turns us all into perpetual suspects, increases the likelihood of being falsely arrested, and chills people’s willingness to participate in first amendment protected activities. Even Amazon, known for operating one of the largest video surveillance networks in the history of the world, extended its moratorium on selling face recognition to police.
By Matthew Guariglia for Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) on April 4, 2023
The answer could be crucial in the FCC’s attempt to combat “digital discrimination”.
By Aaron Sankin for The Markup on April 8, 2023
With the high pace development of AI systems, more and more people are trying to grapple with the potential impact of these systems on our societies and daily lives. One often utilized way to make sense of AI is through metaphors, that either help to clarify or horribly muddy the waters.
Continue reading “Metaphors of AI: “Gunpowder of the 21st Century””
Ignoring earlier Dutch failures in automated decision making, and ignoring advice from its own experts, the Dutch ministry of Foreign Affairs has decided to cut costs and cut corners through implementing a discriminatory profiling system to process visa applications.
Continue reading “Racist Technology in Action: You look similar to someone we didn’t like → Dutch visa denied”
Starting May 13th, 2023.
Continue reading “Events, exhibits and other things to do”
Hans de Zwart is onderzoeker en docent aan de Hogeschool van Amsterdam en is een van de oprichters van het ‘Racism and Technology Center’. Hij heeft ervaring met juridische strijd met de overheid en helpt anderen deze zo goed mogelijk te voeren. Bijvoorbeeld als een zwarte student moeite heeft examens af te leggen omdat de anti-spieksoftware niet herkent dat er een mens in beeld is.
By Hans de Zwart, Randal Peelen and Ruurd Sanders for Met Nerds om Tafel on April 26, 2023
In this interview with Felienne Hermans, Professor Computer Science at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, she discusses the sore lack of divesity in the white male-dominated world of programming, the importance of teaching people how to code and, the problematic uses of AI-systems.
Continue reading “What problems are AI-systems even solving? “Apparently, too few people ask that question””
In this piece on Medium, Jenka Gurfinkel writes about a Reddit user who has asked Midjourney, a generative AI to do the following:
Continue reading “How AIs collapse our history and culture into a monolithic perspective”Imagine a time traveler journeyed to various times and places throughout human history and showed soldiers and warriors of the periods what a “selfie” is.
In an interview with Zoë Corbyn in the Guardian, data journalist and Associate Professor of Journalism, Meredith Broussard discusses her new book More Than a Glitch: Confronting Race, Gender and Ability Bias in Tech.
Continue reading “More data will not solve bias in algorithmic systems: it’s a systemic issue, not a ‘glitch’”
In another investigation by The Markup, significant racial disparities were found in the assessment system used by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA), the body responsible for coordinating homelessness services in Los Angeles. This assessment system is reliant on a tool, called the Vulnerability Index-Service Prioritisation Decision Assistance Tool, or VI-SPDAT, to score and assess whether people can qualify for subsidised permanent housing.
Continue reading “Racist Technology in Action: Racial disparities in the scoring system used for housing allocation in L.A.”
Starting April 15th, 2023.
Continue reading “Events, exhibits and other things to do”
“Het scannen van mijn studentenpas en bureau ging goed, maar bij mijn gezicht kreeg ik de melding dat de ruimte te donker was”, vertelt de 26-jarige Robin Pocornie over het maken van haar eerste examen in september 2020 met – door de Vrije Universiteit (VU) verplichte – online antispieksoftware Proctorio. Wanneer ze een lamp in haar gezicht schijnt, wordt ze wel herkend en toegelaten tot haar examens. Ze vermoedt daarom dat de software discrimineert, maar voelt zich door de VU niet gehoord als ze een klacht indient en klopt daarom aan bij Het College voor de Rechten van de Mens (CvRM). Dat gaf haar op 7 december 2022 in een tussenoordeel gelijk, waarna de VU weer met tegenbewijs kon komen. Deze zaak is een historische gebeurtenis, met alle gevolgen van dien.
By Ariela Slakhorst, Naomi Appelman and Robin Pocornie for Lilith on April 11, 2023
Er moet onderzoek komen naar discriminatie van moslims door financiële instellingen, stelt de Nationaal Coördinator tegen Discriminatie en Racisme Rabin Baldewsingh. Hij waarschuwt voor een nieuw toeslagenschandaal.
By Rabin Baldewsingh and Somajeh Ghaeminia for Trouw on April 6, 2023
Mandatory face-recognition tools have repeatedly failed to identify people with darker skin tones. One Dutch student is fighting to end their use.
By Morgan Meaker and Robin Pocornie for WIRED on April 5, 2023
Fashion brands including Levi’s and Calvin Klein are having custom AI models created to ‘supplement’ representation in size, skin tone and age.
By Alaina Demopoulos for The Guardian on April 3, 2023
De Chinese overheid gebruikt de modernste technieken om burgers goed in de gaten te houden. Hier in Nederland omarmen we dezelfde technieken geheel vrijwillig. ‘Ik denk dat verschillen met China soms kleiner zijn dan we denken.’
By Hans de Zwart, Jialing Zhang and Nienke Schipper for Trouw on March 29, 2023
How AI misrepresents culture through a facial expression.
By Jenka Gurfinkel for Medium on March 26, 2023
This is the third time a case has been filed against Meta and sheds light on the harsh reality of content moderation.
By Odanga Madung for Nation on March 20, 2023
A professor at Suffolk University Law School shares a bypass to an invasive feature of the ExamSoft testing software, and urges the company to change, in a new report.
By Monica Chin for The Verge on January 6, 2021
The journalist and academic says the bias encoded in artificial intelligence systems can’t be fixed with better data alone – the change has to be societal.
By Meredith Broussard and Zoë Corbyn for The Guardian on March 26, 2023
Programmeren is een mannending, nog altijd. Hoogleraar computerwetenschappen Felienne Hermans wil daarin verandering brengen. Ondertussen ligt ze ’s nachts wakker van het brede arsenaal aan ellende dat nieuwe AI-toepassingen als ChatGPT teweegbrengen.
By Felienne Hermans and Laurens Verhagen for Volkskrant on March 16, 2023
Deze aflevering staat in het teken van het onderzoek The Public Interest vs. Big Tech. Dit gaat over het gedoe waar maatschappelijke organisaties mee te maken krijgen door de macht van grote techbedrijven over hun communicatie. Inge gaat in gesprek met Evelyn, Lotje en Ramla over dit onderzoek, dat we samen met vier burgerbewegingen en met Pilp (het Public Interest Litigation Project) deden. We bellen in met Oumaima Hajri. Zij heeft, in samenwerking met the Racism and Technology Center, een alliantie opgestart die zich inzet tegen de militarisering van AI.
By Evely Austin, Inge Wannet, Lotje Beek and Oumaima Hajri for Bits of Freedom on March 17, 2023
Hoe dragen algoritmen bij aan racisme? En wat zijn de gevolgen? Die vragen kwamen aan bod tijdens een paneldiscussie woensdagmiddag op Science Park. ‘We moeten een “safe space” creëren waarin bedrijven transparant durven te zijn zonder gelijk afgestraft te worden.’
By Sija van den Beukel for Folia on March 16, 2023
You are not a parrot. And a chatbot is not a human. And a linguist named Emily M. Bender is very worried what will happen when we forget this.
By Elizabeth Weil and Emily M. Bender for New York Magazine on March 1, 2023
Het College voor de Rechten van de Mens roept burgers op om het te melden als zij last hebben van discriminerende algoritmes. Softwareprogramma’s waar belangrijke instanties gebruik van maken werken namelijk niet altijd bij mensen van kleur.
By Leonie van Noort and Robin Pocornie for EenVandaag on February 25, 2023
This collection by the Data & Society Research Institute sheds an intimate and grounded light on what impact AI-systems can have. The guiding question that connects all of the 13 non-fiction pieces in Parables of AI in/from the Majority world: An Anthology is what stories can be told about a world in which solving societal issues is more and more dependent on AI-based and data-driven technologies? The book, edited by Rigoberto Lara Guzmán, Ranjit Singh and Patrick Davison, through narrating ordinary, everyday experiences in the majority world, slowly disentangles the global and unequally distributed impact of digital technologies.
Continue reading “Stories of everyday life with AI in the global majority”
The current wave of reporting on the AI-bubble has one advantage: it also creates a bit of space in the media to write about how AI reflects the existing inequities in our society.
Continue reading “Work related to the Racism and Technology Center is getting media attention”
As part of a series of investigative reporting by Lighthouse Reports and WIRED, Gabriel Geiger has revealed some of the findings about the use of welfare fraud algorithms in Denmark. This comes in the trajectory of the increasing use of algorithmic systems to detect welfare fraud across European cities, or at least systems which are currently known.
Continue reading “Denmark’s welfare fraud system reflects a deeply racist and exclusionary society”
The algorithm that the city of Rotterdam used to predict the risk of welfare fraud fell into the hands of journalists. Turns out that the system was biased against marginalised groups like young mothers and people who don’t have Dutch as their first language.
Continue reading “Racist Technology in Action: Rotterdam’s welfare fraud prediction algorithm was biased”
Starting March 18th, 2023.
Continue reading “Events, exhibits and other things to do”
An investigation by The Markup found racial disparities in L.A.’s intake system for unhoused people.
By Colin Lecher and Maddy Varner for The Markup on February 28, 2023
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