Beware the ‘Racism in the Machine’ of A.I.

You want to know how racist artificial intelligence can be? In 2021, a facial recognition system included a photograph of Michael B. Jordan, the internationally famous black American film star, among a lineup of suspected gunmen in a Brazilian mass shooting.

Back home in the states, since 2020, facial recognition systems have led to wrongful arrests of four people—and you’re right if you guessed they all had two things in common with Michael B. Jordan. Those are just a couple of the examples illustrating A.I.’s nasty tendency to perpetuate anti-black racism, which is learned from its sentient programmers.

Now that the debt collections industry—well-known for its racism and predatory practices—has wholeheartedly embraced A.I. and automation, it’s a safe bet that algorithmic racism will have particularly negative outcomes for black folks already living on the financial margins.

Read more at The Daily Beast.