The abilities of future super-smart robots may still be hotly debated, but one thing seems certain: they won’t look like ethnic minorities.
A new study has revealed that artificial intelligence is almost always portrayed with the characteristics of white Caucasians in popular culture.
And according to the authors of the study, this increases the risk of AI research becoming ever more racially biased, with algorithms reflecting a whites-only world.
Evidence of racially-biased AI has been growing for some time. Most concern surrounds facial recognition systems, which use AI methods to train computers to identify individuals.
Yet despite being increasingly used for law enforcement, research has shown that commercial AI systems are startlingly prone to mis-identify people from ethnic backgrounds.
White culture can't imagine being taken over by superior beings resembling races it has historically framed as inferior
In a 2018 study by scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, AI systems failed to identify even the gender of 1 in 3 dark-skinned women, compared to just 1 in 100 light-skinned men.
Cases of BAME individuals being wrongly accused of crimes based on evidence from facial recognition algorithms are also starting to emerge.
Now researchers at the University of Cambridge, England, are warning of further dangers if the association of AI with whiteness goes unchallenged.
"Given that society has, for centuries, promoted the association of intelligence with White Europeans, it is to be expected that when this culture is asked to imagine an intelligent machine it imagines a White machine," said Dr Kanta Dihal, co-author of the study in the journal Philosophy and Technology.
The portrayal of AI as being smarter than humans as well as white “could have dangerous consequences for humans that are not,” she said.
Dr Dihal pointed out that celebrated examples of AI in movies from Terminator to Ex Machina are all played by white actors or portrayed as white on-screen.
Even AI characters in slave-like roles - such as the rebellious replicants in Blade Runner – are portrayed as white. "AI is often depicted as outsmarting and surpassing humanity," said Dr Dihal. "White culture can't imagine being taken over by superior beings resembling races it has historically framed as inferior."
Together with Dr Stephen Cave of the Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence (CFI), Dr Dihal found that the whiteness of AI is not only perpetuated through imagery in popular culture.
“One of the most common interactions with AI technology is through virtual assistants in devices such as smartphones, which talk in standard white middle-class English,” said Dr Dihal.
“Ideas of adding Black dialects have been dismissed as too controversial or outside the target market.”
According to Dr Dihal, the exclusively white image of AI could also affect recruitment into the field. With AI increasingly used in applications such as recruitment and criminal justice, this could be “highly consequential", she said. “If the developer demographic does not diversify, AI stands to exacerbate racial inequality”.
Such concerns are backed by evidence of bias in algorithms used to assess criminal defendants in the United States. One study by investigators at ProPublica found that black defendants were twice as likely to be mis-classified as at higher risk of re-offending than their white counterparts. In contrast, white defendants were twice as likely to be mis-classified as posing a lower risk.
The issue of biased AI is increasingly being recognised by technology companies. Microsoft has admitted refusing to supply facial recognition systems to some clients because of fears it would be biased against minorities.
Increasing efforts are also being made to fix the problem. In the case of facial recognition systems, this means finding better AI training methods.
These typically involve getting computers to classify thousands of publicly-available images, each tagged according to their ethnicity, gender and other defining characteristics.
However, according to a new study by UAE researchers, women and ethnic groups are typically under-represented in such collections of images, leading to biased outcomes. They concluded that the best hope for eliminating bias lies in using image databases for specific ethnicities and better algorithms.
Robert Matthews is Visiting Professor of Science at Aston University, Birmingham, UK
The biog
Mission to Seafarers is one of the largest port-based welfare operators in the world.
It provided services to around 200 ports across 50 countries.
They also provide port chaplains to help them deliver professional welfare services.
'The worst thing you can eat'
Trans fat is typically found in fried and baked goods, but you may be consuming more than you think.
Powdered coffee creamer, microwave popcorn and virtually anything processed with a crust is likely to contain it, as this guide from Mayo Clinic outlines:
Baked goods - Most cakes, cookies, pie crusts and crackers contain shortening, which is usually made from partially hydrogenated vegetable oil. Ready-made frosting is another source of trans fat.
Snacks - Potato, corn and tortilla chips often contain trans fat. And while popcorn can be a healthy snack, many types of packaged or microwave popcorn use trans fat to help cook or flavour the popcorn.
Fried food - Foods that require deep frying — french fries, doughnuts and fried chicken — can contain trans fat from the oil used in the cooking process.
Refrigerator dough - Products such as canned biscuits and cinnamon rolls often contain trans fat, as do frozen pizza crusts.
Creamer and margarine - Nondairy coffee creamer and stick margarines also may contain partially hydrogenated vegetable oils.
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The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
if you go
The flights
Etihad and Emirates fly direct from the UAE to Seoul from Dh3,775 return, including taxes
The package
Ski Safari offers a seven-night ski package to Korea, including five nights at the Dragon Valley Hotel in Yongpyong and two nights at Seoul CenterMark hotel, from £720 (Dh3,488) per person, including transfers, based on two travelling in January
The info
Visit www.gokorea.co.uk
Results
5pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (Turf) 2,200m; Winner: Gurm, Antonio Fresu (jockey), Eric Lemartinel (trainer)
5.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,600m; Winner: Al Nafece, Al Muatasm Al Balushi, Mohammed Ramadan
6pm: Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (T) 1,200m; Winner: Ashton Tourettes, Adrie de Vries, Ibrahim Aseel
6.30pm: Arabian Triple Crown – Group 3 (PA) Dh300,000 (T) 2,200m; Winner: Ottoman, Adrie de Vries, Abdallah Al Hammadi
7pm: Liwa Oasis – Group 2 (PA) 300,000 (T) 1,400m; Winner: Hakeemat Muscat, Szczepan Mazur, Ibrahim Al Hadhrami
7.30pm: Handicap (TB) Dh80,000 (T) 1,600m; Winner: Ganbaru, Antonio Fresu, Musabah Al Muhairi
McLaren GT specs
Engine: 4-litre twin-turbo V8
Transmission: seven-speed
Power: 620bhp
Torque: 630Nm
Price: Dh875,000
On sale: now
JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH
Directed by: Shaka King
Starring: Daniel Kaluuya, Lakeith Stanfield, Jesse Plemons
Four stars
Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
'Tell the Machine Goodnight' by Katie Williams
Penguin Randomhouse
Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
The biog
Favourite book: Men are from Mars Women are from Venus
Favourite travel destination: Ooty, a hill station in South India
Hobbies: Cooking. Biryani, pepper crab are her signature dishes
Favourite place in UAE: Marjan Island
UAE v IRELAND
All matches start at 10am, and will be played in Abu Dhabi
1st ODI, Friday, January 8
2nd ODI, Sunday, January 10
3rd ODI, Tuesday, January 12
4th ODI, Thursday, January 14
Persuasion
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Dubai World Cup Carnival card:
6.30pm: Handicap (Turf) | US$175,000 | 2,410 metres
7.05pm: UAE 1000 Guineas Trial Conditions (Dirt) | $100,000 | 1,400m
7.40pm: Handicap (T) | $145,000 | 1,000m
8.15pm: Dubawi Stakes Group 3 (D) | $200,000 | 1,200m
8.50pm: Singspiel Stakes Group 3 (T) | $200,000 | 1,800m
9.25pm: Handicap (T) | $175,000 | 1,400m
BRIEF SCORES:
Toss: Nepal, chose to field
UAE 153-6: Shaiman (59), Usman (30); Regmi 2-23
Nepal 132-7: Jora 53 not out; Zahoor 2-17
Result: UAE won by 21 runs
Series: UAE lead 1-0
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Other key dates
-
Finals draw: December 2
-
Finals (including semi-finals and third-placed game): June 5–9, 2019
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Euro 2020 play-off draw: November 22, 2019
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Euro 2020 play-offs: March 26–31, 2020
