This Gender, Technology and Law session will be animated by Dr. Tuba Bircan (VUB) and is entitled: Reflections on Gender-Biased AI
Session description: Reflections on Gender-biased AI
All spheres of life and social dynamics are beset with gender bias and various forms of discrimination against women and girls. Women’s lacking- or mis-representation in Big Data and gender bias in Artificial Intelligence (AI) are no exceptions. AI algorithms learn by training and rely highly on “data”, therefore humans’ inherent biases in data and models are the main sources for the biases in AI. Unless the designs are improved and robust, AI algorithms are likely to reproduce and reinforce existing gender stereotypes and discriminatory social norms. Given the urgent and legitimate demand for ethically responsible, explainable and fair AI; the ethical aspects of Big Data are shaped by concerns regarding the social consequences of both the widespread adoption of AI and the ways in which biases in data can be replicated and perpetuated. This seminar will focus on the discussing following questions to assess the obstacles and challenges for developing ethical, fair and gender-responsive AI: What causes gender biases in AI? What are the real-life examples? What are the possible approaches/practices to avoid gender bias in AI?
Speaker's Bio:
Dr. Tuba Bircan is an assistant professor of sociology at the Dept. of Sociology and the research coordinator at the Interface Demography, at the Free University of Brussels (VUB). She is also affiliated as a senior research associate at HIVA (KU Leuven). As a social scientist with statistics background, her research interests cover a wide range from migration, refugees, inequalities, equal opportunities, social and public policies to new methodologies and use of Big Data and AI for studying societal challenges. She is a follower of open science and science for society. She is currently the scientific coordinator if H2020 funded HumMingBird-Enhanced Migration Measures from a Multidimensional Perspective project. She has published mainly on the methodological aspects of migration studies, inclusive policies and inequalities.
Gender, Technology & Law Sessions:
This session is part of the Gender, Technologies & Law Sessions, a collaborative initiative of the Law, Science, Technology and Society Research Group (LSTS) and the Fundamental Rights Centre (FRC) at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel. The initiative aims at investigating the intersections between gender, technology and law through an interdisciplinary approach. Outcomes of these investigations but also more explorative debates and open questions are presented in a series of seminars, both by internal and external speakers. For more information on the series, see here.