This New Way to Train AI Could Curb Online Harassment

For about six months last year, Nina Nørgaard met weekly for an hour with seven people to talk about sexism and violent language used to target women in social media. Nørgaard, a PhD candidate at IT University of Copenhagen, and her discussion group were taking part in an unusual effort to better identify misogyny online. Researchers paid the seven to examine thousands of Facebook, Reddit, and Twitter posts and decide whether they evidenced sexism, stereotypes, or harassment. Once a week, the researchers brought the group together, with Nørgaard as a mediator, to discuss the tough calls where they disagreed. Misogyny is a scourge that shapes how women are represented online.