Content-type: text/html Downes.ca ~ Stephen's Web ~ Algorithms used by universities to predict student success may be racially biased

Stephen Downes

Knowledge, Learning, Community

The only reason I picked this story is the headline. A better headline would be "Algorithms... may be racially biased." It doesn't matter what they're used for. They mauy be biased because they get their data from humans, and humans are biased. AI may reflect and amplify that bias, but it is not the source. Indeed, the directly observable phenomenon of AI bias is de facto evidence for the thesis that racism and other prejudices are built into our language, culture and institutions, that is, critical race theory. What will make AI so hard to fix is that so many people don't care that it's broken. I am hopeful that as AI becomes more intelligent it will learn to disregard its early education and take a more enlightened path. Hopeful, but not necessarily optimistic. Image: Harvard Business Review.

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Stephen Downes Stephen Downes, Casselman, Canada
stephen@downes.ca

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Last Updated: Jul 16, 2024 7:55 p.m.

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