Mitigating Bias in A.I.: Tips and Tricks

Last year, we saw a steady drumbeat of stories examining bias in artificial intelligence (A.I.) and machine learning. It turns out that folks' preconceptions have a way of creeping into the logic of machines, tainting the results of facial recognition software, recruiting platforms and law enforcement. Even while they're building A.I.-powered systems intended to remove human prejudice from one process or another, technologists may unwittingly contribute to the core problem. Developers and software engineers, after all, have biases of their own, however unconscious. "You would have to have zero interactions with other humans to not have experienced bias, with or without A.I.," said Meg Bear, senior vice president of products for SAP SuccessFactors in South San Francisco, CA.