Bookshelf

foundational work that I know of in this domain,” says Caliskan.

A respected leader in the field, Caliskan holds a Ph.D. in computer science from Drexel University and a master of science in robotics from the University of Pennsylvania. She also served as a postdoctoral researcher at Princeton University’s Center for Information Technology Policy. “Aylin recognized the importance of this topic back in 2015, when there were relatively few people thinking about it. Her ability to anticipate emerging threats has allowed her to make timely and vital contributions again and again,” says her former advisor Arvind Narayanan, associate professor of computer science at Princeton University.

Caliskan — a math whiz as a child growing up in Istanbul — is helping to develop critical new methods to systematically detect and quantify humanlike bias in machine learning. “Now, for the first time, we have tools where we can go back in time, look at historical data, see how the bias evolves, how it impacts fairness, equity, social structures, and how it is shaping society in an accelerated and biased manner.”

As researchers like Caliskan dig deep into AI systems, the harmful effects of bias contamination are becoming increasingly apparent. Racially biased algorithms have led to inequitable sentences for convicted criminals and to wrongful arrests of African Americans based on faulty facial recognition systems. An investigation of one hospital showed that the algorithm it used prioritized care for white patients over Black patients. Biased AI hiring tools that determine who gets a callback have shown a preference for names more common among white people over those among Black people.

More and more academics are joining forces to mitigate problems before they get out of control. Their role is critical in reining in AI bias, says Caliskan. “As researchers, we can inform policy so that the harmful side effects of these systems can at least potentially be slowed down.”

The work, she says, is urgent. “The bias life cycle is already so accelerated it is threatening our democracy, our cognition, our values, and our social processes.”

Telling Stories

On Culturally Responsive Artificial Intelligence 19 Stories

EDITED BY: Ryan Calo, Batya Friedman, Tadayoshi Kohno, Hannah Almeter and Nick Logler

New this year from iSchool faculty:

Telling Stories: On Culturally Responsive Artificial Intelligence (Tech Policy Lab), co-edited by Professor Batya Friedman, Ph .D . candidate Nicholas Logler and colleagues with the UW Tech Policy Lab, is a set of 19 short stories that delve into the impact of artificial intelligence on the world . The stories offer perspectives spanning five continents in a time of rapid technological change . You can download or order the book at techpolicylab.uw.edu . Designing Tech Policy: Instructional Case Studies for Technologists and Policymakers (self-published) by Associate Professor David G . Hendry shares a set of case studies from the Tech Policy Lab, designed to enhance tech policy capacity and fluency in a variety of settings, including education and government . A free digital version of the book is available for download at ischool.uw.edu/designing-tech-policy . Foundations of Information (self-published) by Professor Amy J . Ko is an introductory digital textbook for Informatics, available free at ischool .uw .edu/foundationsinformation . The book covers topics such as what information is; how it relates to systems of power; how we use technology to make it work; and how these ideas apply to design, automation, health data science, democracy and sustainability . Blockchain and the Public Sector (Springer), co-edited by Professor Hans Jochen Scholl, discusses blockchain technology and its potential applications in digital government and the public sector . Written by leading scholars and practitioners, the book presents challenges, benefits and applications of blockchain in the public sphere . Task Intelligence for Search and Recommendation (Morgan & Claypool), authored by Associate Professor Chirag Shah with Ryen W . White of Microsoft Research, addresses the proliferation of intelligent agents that have unlocked new ways to interact with information and some of their shortcomings in understanding users’ intent when interacting with search engines . Introduction to Cultural Analytics & Python (self-published) by Assistant Teaching Professor Melanie Walsh is an online textbook that serves as an introduction to programming in Python for people interested in the humanities and social sciences . You can access it free at ischool.uw.edu/intro-python .