Syndetics cover image
Image from Syndetics

Unmasking AI : my mission to protect what is human in a world of machines / Joy Buolamwini.

By: Material type: TextTextPublisher: New York : Random House, [2023]Edition: First editionDescription: xxi, 308 pages : illustrations ; 22 cmContent type:
  • text
Media type:
  • unmediated
Carrier type:
  • volume
ISBN:
  • 9780593241837
  • 0593241835
Subject(s):
Contents:
Introduction -- Part I. Idealistic immigrant -- Daughter of art and science -- The future factory -- Break the alabaster -- Shield ready -- Part II. Curious critic -- Defaults are not neutral -- Facial recognition technologies -- Guardians assemble -- Power shadows -- Part III. Rising researcher -- Crawling through data -- Arbiter of truth -- Gender shades -- Deserted desserts -- Part IV. Intrepid poet -- AI, ain't I a woman? -- Gates in Belgium -- Poets vs. Goliath in the wild -- Brooklyn tenants -- Testify -- Betting on coded bias -- Part V. Just human -- Drop out -- Golden redemption -- Costs of inclusion and exclusion -- Sword of knowledge -- Cups of hope -- Seat at the table.
Summary: "To most of us, it seems like recent developments in artificial intelligence emerged out of nowhere to pose unprecedented threats to humankind. But to Dr. Joy Buolamwini, who has been at the forefront of AI research, this moment has been a long time in the making. In Unmasking AI, Buolamwini explains how we've arrived at an era of AI harms and oppression, and what we can do to avoid its pitfalls. After tinkering with robotics as a high school student in Memphis and then developing mobile apps in Zambia as a Fulbright fellow, Buolamwini followed her lifelong passion for computer science, engineering, and art to MIT in 2015. As a graduate student at the "Future Factory," she did groundbreaking research that exposed widespread racial and gender bias in AI services from tech giants across the world, leading her to become "the conscience of the AI revolution" (Fortune). Unmasking AI goes beyond the headlines about existential risks produced by Big Tech. It is the remarkable story of how Buolamwini uncovered what she calls "the coded gaze" -- the evidence of encoded discrimination and exclusion in tech products -- and how she galvanized the movement to prevent AI harms by founding the Algorithmic Justice League. Applying an intersectional lens to both the tech industry and the research sector, she shows how racism, sexism, colorism, and ableism can overlap and render broad swaths of humanity "excoded" and therefore vulnerable in a world rapidly adopting AI tools. Computers, she reminds us, are reflections of both the aspirations and the limitations of the people who create them. Encouraging experts and non-experts alike to join this fight, Buolamwini writes, "The rising frontier for civil rights will require algorithmic justice. AI should be for the people and by the people, not just the privileged few."" -- Jacket flap.
List(s) this item appears in: Black History Month for Adults
Holdings
Item type Home library Collection Shelving location Call number Materials specified Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Adult Book Adult Book Main Library NonFiction New 006.3 B943 Available 33111011233190
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

NATIONAL BESTSELLER * "The conscience of the AI revolution" ( Fortune ) explains how we've arrived at an era of AI harms and oppression, and what we can do to avoid its pitfalls.

"Dr. Joy Buolamwini has been an essential figure in bringing irresponsible, profit-hungry tech giants to their knees. If you're going to read only one book about AI, this should be it."--Darren Walker, president of the Ford Foundation

A LOS ANGELES TIMES BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR * Shortlisted for the Inc. Non-Obvious Book Award

To most of us, it seems like recent developments in artificial intelligence emerged out of nowhere to pose unprecedented threats to humankind. But to Dr. Joy Buolamwini, who has been at the forefront of AI research, this moment has been a long time in the making.

After tinkering with robotics as a high school student in Memphis and then developing mobile apps in Zambia as a Fulbright fellow, Buolamwini followed her lifelong passion for computer science, engineering, and art to MIT in 2015. As a graduate student at the "Future Factory," she did groundbreaking research that exposed widespread racial and gender bias in AI services from tech giants across the world.

Unmasking AI goes beyond the headlines about existential risks produced by Big Tech. It is the remarkable story of how Buolamwini uncovered what she calls "the coded gaze"--the evidence of encoded discrimination and exclusion in tech products--and how she galvanized the movement to prevent AI harms by founding the Algorithmic Justice League. Applying an intersectional lens to both the tech industry and the research sector, she shows how racism, sexism, colorism, and ableism can overlap and render broad swaths of humanity "excoded" and therefore vulnerable in a world rapidly adopting AI tools. Computers, she reminds us, are reflections of both the aspirations and the limitations of the people who create them.

Encouraging experts and non-experts alike to join this fight, Buolamwini writes, "The rising frontier for civil rights will require algorithmic justice. AI should be for the people and by the people, not just the privileged few."

Includes bibliographical references (pages 295-308).

Introduction -- Part I. Idealistic immigrant -- Daughter of art and science -- The future factory -- Break the alabaster -- Shield ready -- Part II. Curious critic -- Defaults are not neutral -- Facial recognition technologies -- Guardians assemble -- Power shadows -- Part III. Rising researcher -- Crawling through data -- Arbiter of truth -- Gender shades -- Deserted desserts -- Part IV. Intrepid poet -- AI, ain't I a woman? -- Gates in Belgium -- Poets vs. Goliath in the wild -- Brooklyn tenants -- Testify -- Betting on coded bias -- Part V. Just human -- Drop out -- Golden redemption -- Costs of inclusion and exclusion -- Sword of knowledge -- Cups of hope -- Seat at the table.

"To most of us, it seems like recent developments in artificial intelligence emerged out of nowhere to pose unprecedented threats to humankind. But to Dr. Joy Buolamwini, who has been at the forefront of AI research, this moment has been a long time in the making. In Unmasking AI, Buolamwini explains how we've arrived at an era of AI harms and oppression, and what we can do to avoid its pitfalls. After tinkering with robotics as a high school student in Memphis and then developing mobile apps in Zambia as a Fulbright fellow, Buolamwini followed her lifelong passion for computer science, engineering, and art to MIT in 2015. As a graduate student at the "Future Factory," she did groundbreaking research that exposed widespread racial and gender bias in AI services from tech giants across the world, leading her to become "the conscience of the AI revolution" (Fortune). Unmasking AI goes beyond the headlines about existential risks produced by Big Tech. It is the remarkable story of how Buolamwini uncovered what she calls "the coded gaze" -- the evidence of encoded discrimination and exclusion in tech products -- and how she galvanized the movement to prevent AI harms by founding the Algorithmic Justice League. Applying an intersectional lens to both the tech industry and the research sector, she shows how racism, sexism, colorism, and ableism can overlap and render broad swaths of humanity "excoded" and therefore vulnerable in a world rapidly adopting AI tools. Computers, she reminds us, are reflections of both the aspirations and the limitations of the people who create them. Encouraging experts and non-experts alike to join this fight, Buolamwini writes, "The rising frontier for civil rights will require algorithmic justice. AI should be for the people and by the people, not just the privileged few."" -- Jacket flap.

Powered by Koha