We think of AI as an arbiter of neutrality, but when fed biased data it churns out biased results. At the beginning of 2017, Amazon's machine learning division shuttered an artificial intelligence (AI) project it had been working on for the past three years. A team in its machine learning wing had been building computer programmes designed to review job applicants' resumes, giving them star-ratings from one to five – not unlike the way shoppers can rate products purchased from Amazon online. However, within a year of the project beginning, the company realised its system was biased against female applicants. The software was trained to vet applicants by observing patterns in resumes submitted to the company over a ten-year period, the majority of which – due to the male-dominance of the tech industry – came from men.

We think of AI as an arbiter of neutrality, but when fed biased data it churns out biased results. At the beginning of 2017, Amazon's machine learning division shuttered an artificial intelligence (AI) project it had been working on for the past three years. A team in its machine learning wing had been building computer programmes designed to review job applicants' resumes, giving them star-ratings from one to five – not unlike the way shoppers can rate products purchased from Amazon online. However, within a year of the project beginning, the company realised its system was biased against female applicants. The software was trained to vet applicants by observing patterns in resumes submitted to the company over a ten-year period, the majority of which – due to the male-dominance of the tech industry – came from men.

Recent years have turned the phrase'artificial intelligence' into something of a buzzword, but it's hard to deny the impact machine learning is currently …

Our home lives are increasingly filled with a proliferation of smart devices and apps designed to meet our needs and answer our whims almost instantaneously. Services such as Alexa and Siri mean that simply speaking aloud will instantly fetch information or fulfil a task. This trend at home is reflected in the professional world, with workers beginning to expect the same instant gratification for their workplace needs, and accordingly self-service and automation have become essential for all IT service desks. The next phase of this evolution is the advent of artificial intelligence-powered services that not only meet our requests but learn to anticipate our needs by analysing our individual preferences. While the technology is still nascent, AI has become a major focus in most fields.