“You can have your AI as soon as I have my gender-balanced society,” Margrethe Vestager, the Executive Vice President and Commissioner-Designate for Competition and Digital Policy, recently proclaimed before the European Parliament.
Vestager’s comments speak to concerns that artificial intelligence (AI) will perpetuate gender bias in society. From this perspective, algorithms reinforce discrimination when they produce results that differ significantly in accuracy across different demographic groups. Since machine learning systems often train their models on data that reflects real-world bias, many like Vestager are concerned AI will perpetuate stereotypes.
While bias is a valid concern, is this the right response? Should Europe postpone the use of AI for decades until bias is eliminated not just from the technology, but from society?
The answer is clearly no. In fact, AI can be a helpful tool for improving social fairness and gender equity in Europe.
Read the full article in New Europe.
Image credits: Flickr
