AI Book Review,

Unmasking AI: My Mission to Protect What Is Human in a World of Machines

Book by Joy Buolamwini

Article Written by Rajeshwar Raj

In “Unmasking AI,” Joy Buolamwini unveils a remarkable narrative. As a master’s student at MIT in 2015, her struggle with a facial recognition program laid the foundation for her AI activism. It became evident that the program worked flawlessly with light-skinned faces but couldn’t track hers until she donned a white theater mask, revealing how human biases seep into technology.

This experience ignited Buolamwini’s passion for AI ethics. She exposed how AI’s racial and gender biases, rooted in skewed training data, perpetuated injustice. Buolamwini’s critique extends to initiatives like a China-based startup collecting Zimbabwean faces for AI datasets, which she terms “data colonialism.” Her principles for “algorithmic justice” stress the importance of people’s voices shaping the algorithms influencing their lives.

The core of Buolamwini‘s message is clear: in a world increasingly shaped by algorithmic decision-making, failing to address AI’s discriminatory flaws leads to systemic injustice. She argues that AI should not perpetuate existing biases and that not creating or collecting intrusive data should be considered. While AI reflects the aspirations and limitations of its creators, transforming its development can pave the way for a more just society, one where AI serves humanity, not prejudice. This urgent and incisive examination reveals AI’s pitfalls and the need for algorithmic justice.

THE BOOK IS AVAILABLE ON AMAZON.