Experts explore impact of AI on Black and Brown communities – The Champion Newspaper | 404-373-7779

A recent survey by online trade magazine Digiday indicated that more than 80 percent of brands are using some form of artificial intelligence (AI)—the gathering and use of information by machines rather than humans. But are certain communities impacted differently from others by the use of AI? That was the topic of discussion at a gathering called “AI 101 Listening Session: Addressing Disparities in Black and Brown Communities” held Feb. 24 at New Life Church and New Life Community Alliance on Flat Shoals Road in Decatur.

South DeKalb Improvement Association Education (SDIAE) in collaboration with Lonnie Johnson’s STEM Center and other organizations in metro Atlanta sponsored a two-hour session to which they invited experts from academia, industry, and community sectors to present their unique perspectives and experiences related to Black and Brown communities in the evolving landscape of AI.

“AI is not a recent concept; it has roots dating back to early civilizations but underwent a significant transformation in 1956,” noted the session organizers in their announcement of the session. “The term ‘artificial intelligence’ was coined at the Dartmouth Workshop, where researchers convened to explore the potential of creating machines capable of emulating human intelligence.”

Taking what he termed a “broad strokes” approach to the subject, keynote speaker Arun Rai, Regents’ professor of the University System of Georgia and holder of the Howard S. Starks Distinguished Chair at the Robinson College of Business at Georgia State University, explained that AI systems draw from huge amounts of data. “They don’t create anything new. They make predictions and reach conclusions from what already exists. If the data is skewed in a certain way, the conclusions from it will have the same flaw. If, for example, a human resources program is asked to predict the sort of person who will be most successful in a certain position and its data sees a disproportionate number of successful White men having held the position—simply because others were underrepresented in the past—it will draw the false conclusion that women and minority group members will not do well.”

Urging that “the baby not be thrown out with the bath water,” Rai added that there are many functions that AI performs faster and sometimes better that humans such as computing, detecting, and gaming and that the entire society may benefit from the application of those functions.

“There will be some rotten data,” said panel member Muhsinah Holms Morris, who is director of Morehouse College’s Metaversity project. “Social media has shone a light on who we are as human beings. We now know that there are those who deliberately misuse information or even put false information out for their own purposes. AI systems can’t tell the difference between that and actual facts.”

Charles Pierre, a data scientist and analytics professional, said that each time there is a technological innovation it is necessary to look at how everyone—not just a majority—is affected. “It’s not easy,” panel member Pierre noted, “but it’s rewarding. It’s something that everyone who teaches Black and Brown students should be sensitive to.”

Another panel member, professor, and business architect Henry Whitlow, said that it’s important to assure that Black and Brown voices are amplified as technology advances, “We need more data about us, by us, and with which we control the narrative. AI allows us to do remarkable things, but we mustn’t allow it to override human input. It’s a piece of equipment like a toaster. You would never allow a toaster to make decisions for you.”

Asia Demmer, a computer science student at Georgia Tech and a panel member, pointed out that because AI can enable small businesses, which many minority-owned companies are, to do more with fewer resources, AI can improve their ability to compete. “It can actually help level the playing field,” she said.