News

AI’s accountability gap

The absence of rules of the road is in part because industry hands have cast tech regulation as troglodytic, says Meredith Whittaker, co-founder of the AI Now Institute at New York University.

Artificial Intelligence Experts Issue Urgent Warning Against Facial Scanning With a “Dangerous History”

Crawford and her colleagues are now more opposed than ever to the spread of this sort of culturally and scientifically regressive algorithmic prediction: “Although physiognomy fell out of favor following its association with Nazi race science, researchers are worried about a reemergence of physiognomic ideas in affect recognition applications,” the report reads.

Videos from the AI Now 2018 Symposium

Ethics, Organizing and Accountability

2018 Symposium

The AI Now 2018 Symposium addressed the intersection of AI, ethics, organizing, and accountability–examining the landmark events of the past year that have brought these topics squarely into focus. What can we learn from them and where is there more work to be done?

Could a bold move by John Hanckock upend the insurance industry?

But some are wary of the burden companies take on with such massive quantities of consumer information. Kate Crawford, founder of the AI Now Institute, tweeted about the pitfalls of the Vitality program after John Hancock announced its widespread implementation: false data, consumers trying to game the system, “intimate” surveillance and data breaches.

AI Now Law and Policy Reading List

AI Now 2018 Symposium

This year’s program will address the intersection of AI, ethics, organizing, and accountability – with speakers including Philip Alston, Sherrilyn Ifill, Lucy Suchman, Virginia Eubanks, Kevin De Liban, Vincent Southerland, Timnit Gebru, Nicole Ozer, and Marisa Franco.

California just replaced cash bail with algorithms

Rashida Richardson, policy director for AI Now, a nonprofit think tank dedicated to studying the societal impact of AI, tells Quartz that she’s skeptical that this system will be less biased than its predecessors.

ACLU Podcast: How to fight an algorithm

What does all this mean for our civil liberties? And how can the public exercise oversight of a secret algorithm? AI Now Co-founder Meredith Whittaker discusses this brave new world — and the ways we can keep it in check.

Facial recognition gives police a powerful new tracking tool. It’s also raising alarms.

“There needs to be greater transparency around the use of these technologies,” said Rashida Richardson, director of policy research at the AI Now Institute at New York University. “And a more open, public conversation about what types of use cases we are comfortable with — and what types of use cases should just not be available.”

You and AI – Machine learning, bias and implications for inequality

Cofounder Kate Crawford delivers a keynote address at the Royal Society in London as part of the "You and AI" series.

The New Age of Innovation: Government’s Role in Artificial Intelligence

Policy director Rashida Richardson discusses regulation of AI and its use in government on a panel alongside two members of congress and the head of the IT Industry Council.

Litigating Algorithms Workshop

AI Now partnered with NYU Law’s Center on Race, Inequality and the Law and the Electronic Frontier Foundation to host a first of its kind workshop that examined current United States courtroom litigation where the use of algorithms by government was central to the rights and liberties at issue in the case. Learn more by reading a summary of the workshop along with a report of our key takeaways.

Bias detectives – the researchers striving to make algorithms fair

As machine learning infiltrates society, scientists grapple with how to make algorithms fair

Litigating Algorithms

AI Now teamed up with NYU Law’s Center on Race, Inequality and the Law and the Electronic Frontier Foundation to conduct a deep examination of current United States courtroom litigation where the use of algorithms by government was central to the rights and liberties at issue in the case.

Silicon Valley is stumped – Even AI cannot always remove bias from hiring

Cofounder Meredith Whittaker raises concerns about AI products used in sourcing and hiring employees, questions their claims to "remove bias" from hiring, and calls for increased oversight and accountability.

If Machines Take Over, Who Will Be in Charge?

That limited group is introducing human biases into algorithms, warned Kate Crawford, co-founder of AI Now Research Institute. “In some ways, the people designing these systems are the least well-trained to think about the problems,” she said.

AI Experts Want Government Algorithms to Be Studied Like Environmental Hazards

AI Now, a nonprofit founded to study the societal impacts of AI, said an algorithmic impact assessment (AIA) would assure that the public and governments understand the scope, capability, and secondary impacts an algorithm could have, and people could voice concerns if an algorithm was behaving in a biased or unfair way.