NIST Proposal Aims to Reduce Bias in Artificial Intelligence

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) recently announced the publication of A Proposal for Identifying and Managing Bias in Artificial Intelligence. The proposal outlines a possible approach for reducing risk of bias in the use of artificial intelligence (AI) technology, and the agency is seeking comments from the public to strengthen that effort until Aug. 5. Studies have shown that AI can be biased against people of color, and while there are legislative efforts in progress to tackle this issue from a policy standpoint, much of the issue hinges on the way the technology functions at its most basic level. "We want to bring together the community of AI developers, of course, but we also want to involve psychologists, sociologists, legal experts and people from marginalized communities," said Elham Tabassi, NIST's chief of staff in the Information Technology Laboratory and a member of the National AI Research Resource Task Force in the announcement. The proposal seeks to help industries using AI technology to develop a risk-based framework.