Last week we shared UN Data on COVID-19 and gender: What do we know and what we need to know that highlighted the need to ensure that the economic (and non-economic) impacts are not shouldered disproportionately by women.
This concern was validated by The Lily magazine report that “Six weeks into widespread self-quarantine, editors of academic journals have started noticing a trend: Women — who inevitably shoulder a greater share of family responsibilities — seem to be submitting fewer papers during coronavirus. “because women are already underrepresented in astrophysics, “the drop off has been easy for editors to spot.”
To support women and non-binary people during COVID-19 pandemic, ighthouse3 CEO and Women in AI Ethics™ founder Mia Dand (@MiaD) launched AI Ethics Mentoring & Externship programs. Get more information and sign up at the AI Ethics Mentoring program.
Start off your week right with our AI Ethics Weekly newsletter. Sign up to get this exclusive content delivered to your inbox every Monday!
Source: https://twitter.com/evan_greer/status/1253507806390558720?s=20
Welcome to the Orwellian Surveillance Hellscape!
Big tech responded to the COVID-19 pandemic with many varied solutions, which included Apple and Google Announcing a Coronavirus Tracking System, AI tools measuring social distancing in real time, and Security Cameras Keeping Track of Social Distancing in Public Spaces using a computer vision algorithm. All of which has many wondering “is more surveillance worth the risk?”
There is an unsettling realization that Coronavirus Surveillance Helps, But the Programs Are Hard to Stop. Experts continue to sound the alarm on the unfolding “orwellian surveillance” landscape and EU Privacy Chiefs Issued a Warning – Coronavirus Apps Must Keep Big Brother at Bay “virus-tracking technologies must not be allowed to morph into dystopian snooping on citizens in the wake of the pandemic”. A Human in the Loop is Not Enough: The Need for Human-Subject Experiments in Facial Recognition
Stay Vigilant
When the coronavirus hit, California turned to artificial intelligence to help map the spread. Valentine Goddard shared an example of how some companies are Repurposing their AI tools for COVID-19.
KayFirth-Butterfield, Head of AI and Machine Learning at the World Economic Forum (WEF) cautions that just because AI is helping triage coronavirus patients “the problems that come with AI don’t go away because there is a pandemic.”
Evan Selinger reminds us that Privacy Versus Health Is a False Trade-Off and highlighted a win for democracy as Westport Ends Controversial Coronavirus Drone Program Amid Uproar “Citizen complaints led the police to “step back” and “reconsider” the appropriateness of using the technology as part of COVID-19 governance.”
Sign up to get the full-length version of this content delivered to your inbox every Monday!
Buyer Beware!
John D. Wood, Esq. shares how The surge of sensationalist COVID-19 AI research is the scourge of our time as the “tendency to hastily use imperfect and questionable data to train an AI solution for COVID-19, a dangerous trend that not only does not help any patient or physician but also damages the reputation of the AI community.”
Theo shares the perspective that Silicon Valley needs a new approach to studying ethics now more than ever and in a similar vein, Michelle Carney puts forth a workshop paper: A Human in the Loop is Not Enough: The Need for Human-Subject Experiments in Facial Recognition that’s intended to initiate a discussion about “the best path forward for AI and HCI researchers to work together towards empirical and human-centered approaches to the design and evaluation of human-in-the-loop facial recognition systems.”
And speaking of a different approach, h/t to Paresh Kathrani for highlighting that some experts suggest ‘bias bounties’ could improve AI ethics. Say what?!
Sign up to get the full-length version of this content delivered to your inbox every Monday!