Unmasking AI: My Mission to Protect What Is Human in a World of Machines

by Joy Buolamwini

“An unseen force is rising…that I call the coded gaze. It is spreading like a virus.” Slide by slide, the audience leaned in as I explained that from who gets hired or fired to even how much you pay for a product, algorithmic bias is ever present. Algorithmic bias occurs when one group is better served than another by an AI system. If you are denied employment because an AI system screened out candidates that attended women’s colleges, you have experienced algorithmic bias. Glancing down, I saw that the timer had expired. Running into overtime, I rushed to my final slide. “So I invite you to join me in creating a world where technology works for all of us, not just some of us…Will you join me in the fight?” The standing ovation was a resounding yes. Momentum was rising. At this point on my MIT academic path, I began to accept what I could do with the privilege of being at an institution with high visibility. Rather than feeling like I was giving up on my idealism of working on technology to escape painful realities, I could see how my childhood passions could live alongside my solidifying purpose to research harmful discrimination in technology. My life trajectory and educational opportunities were starting to make more sense to me. I felt emboldened to ask even more uncomfortable questions about the machines that once enamored me.