Amazon Web Services launches new tool to detect bias and blind spots in machine learning

A new feature from Amazon Web Services will alert developers to potential bias in machine learning algorithms, part of a larger effort by the tech industry to keep automated predictions from discriminating against women, people of color and other underrepresented groups. The feature, SageMaker Clarify, was announced at the AWS re:Invent conference Tuesday as a new component of the AWS SageMaker machine learning platform. The technology analyzes the data used to train machine learning models for telltale signs of bias, including data sets that don't accurately reflect the larger population. It also analyzes the machine learning model itself to help ensure the accuracy of the resulting predictions. A 2018 MIT study found that the presence of a disproportionate number of white males in data sets used to train facial recognition algorithms led a larger number of errors in recognizing women and people of color.