The optimism around modern technology lies in part in the belief that it's a democratizing force--one that isn't bound by the petty biases and prejudices that humans have learned over time. But for artificial intelligence, that's a false hope, according to new research, and the reason is boneheadedly simple: Just as we learn our biases from the world around us, AI will learn its biases from us. There was plenty of reason to think AI could be unbiased. Since it's based on mathematical algorithms, AI doesn't start off with any explicit preference for white-sounding names or a belief that women should stay at home. To guard against implicit biases--biases that programmers might build into AI without realizing it, sort of like how standardized tests are biased in favor of whites--some have recommended transparent algorithms, more diverse development teams, and so on.