SCU Community Read 2024-25 - Unmasking AI

Introducing the Santa Clara University 2024-25 Community Read

Unmasking AI

MY MISSION TO PROTECT WHAT IS HUMAN IN A WORLD OF MACHINES

By Joy Buolamwini

Dr. Joy Buolamwini has been at the forefront of AI research since she was a graduate student at MIT (2015). Her 2020 documentary “Coded Bias” is about artificial intelligence and the biases that can be embedded into this technology. As a student, she and her team discovered that facial recognition for her own face fails unless she wears a white mask. In her first book, Unmasking AI (2023), she proves herself as an experienced critic of AI. Her principles for achieving ‘algorithmic justice’ include the stipulation that ‘people have a voice’ in shaping the algorithms that influence their lives. The current moment seems the perfect time to discuss ‘Unmasking AI,’ questioning its promises and understanding its limitations.

Buolamwini was born in Canada to Ghanaian immigrants. She lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Buolamwini holds two master's degrees from Oxford University and MIT. She also has a bachelor's degree from Georgia Institute of Technology in Computer Science. In 2019, Fortune Magazine expressed her as "the conscience of the A.I. Revolution." In Zambia, she was a former U.S. Fulbright scholar.

AI, Ain't I A Woman? | Joy Buolamwini
"AI, Ain't I A Woman?" is a spoken word visual poem focused on failures of artificial intelligence on iconic women including Oprah Winfrey, Serena Williams, and Michelle Obama.