In Nabil Hassein’s article “Against Black Inclusion in Facial Recognition”, they make this really interesting point: “This analysis clearly contradicts advocacy of ‘diversity and inclusion’ as the universal or even typical response to bias. Among the political class, ‘Black faces in high places’ have utterly failed to produce gains for the Black masses.” I think it’s really fascinating and sad that people have to look at a concept that statistically excludes a minority and say “Please keep it that way” because their inclusion would only be used as a deadly weapon against them… it just shows that anti-racism is way more complex of a system than “just make sure everyone is included and equal!”
Also, I really liked this slide in Joy Buolamwini’s talk:
I think this is a really simple and powerful message. Yes, who is in the room when decisions are being made is essential for any company/organization to think about. How people make things and why they’re making them are also very important considerations. I’d go as far as to say that even if your “why am I making this?” is positively impactful, you need to consider how your code could be used if it got into the wrong hands, too.
Also, really quickly, the SkyNet thing in Last Week Tonight felt straight out of a dystopian movie. I mean, seriously? It made me laugh out loud in the most terrified/uncomfortable way.