New study: "Humans Show Racial Bias Towards Robots of Different Colors"
I found this study illuminating, both on its merits & as a reflection of the scholarly discourse surrounding controversial tech topics like racial bias & robots/AI. spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robo…
Three takeaways:
I found this study illuminating, both on its merits & as a reflection of the scholarly discourse surrounding controversial tech topics like racial bias & robots/AI. spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robo…
Three takeaways:
1) Most robots are designed w/racially-coded White or Asian features. If this continues, ppl will never see robots "racialized" to appear like other races. This has big implications, as robots become prevalent. (Different but related: All AI voice assistants have female voices.)
2) When presented w/robots of different "skin colors," study participants appeared to display similar racial biases as people tend to have re: humans. On one hand, disappointing. On the other hand, perhaps this opens new opportunities for using robots to help decrease biases.
3) The researchers received a LOT of pushback against this study, from conference organizers & U.S. media. This is a failure for the tech community! We can't solve critical bias problems w/robots, AI, & tech unless we are willing to openly talk about them. spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robo…
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