Page 24 - ARUBA TODAY

A24 TECHNOLOGY
Thursday 11 april 2019
Democrats want feds to target the ‘black box’ of AI bias

By MATT O’BRIEN “Consumers are essentially
AP Technology Writer flying blind.”
Congress is starting to show Dozens of facial recogni-
interest in prying open tion developers, including
the “black box” of tech brand-name companies
companies’ artificial intel- like Microsoft, last year sub-
ligence with oversight that mitted their proprietary al-
parallels how the federal gorithms to Copan’s agen-
government checks un- cy so that they could be
der car hoods and audits evaluated and compared
banks. against each other. The
One proposal introduced results showed significant
Wednesday and co-spon- gains in accuracy over pre-
sored by a Democratic vious years. “Self-regulation
presidential candidate, clearly has failed here,” he
Sen. Cory Booker, would re- said. In a bolder move from
quire big companies to test the Trump administration,
the “algorithmic account- the federal Department
ability” of their high-risk AI of Housing and Urban De-
systems, such as technol- velopment has charged
ogy that detects faces or Facebook with allowing
makes important decisions landlords and real estate
based on your most sensi- brokers to systematically
tive personal data. In this Feb. 9, 2019, file photo, Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., is seen on a cell phone as he speaks exclude groups such as
“Computers are increas- during a meet and greet with local residents in Marshalltown, Iowa. In this Feb. 9, 2019, file photo, non-Christians, immigrants
ingly involved in so many Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., is seen on a cell phone as he speaks during a meet and greet with local and minorities from seeing
of the key decisions Ameri- residents in Marshalltown, Iowa. ads for houses and apart-
cans make with respect to Associated Press ments.
their daily lives — wheth- largely unregulated data computerized lending tools administration is also tak- Booker, in a statement
er somebody can buy a economy — everything that charge higher interest ing notice and has made about his bill, said that while
home, get a job or even from social media feeds, rates to Latino and black the development of “safe HUD’s Facebook action is
go to jail,” Sen. Ron Wyden online data brokerages, fi- borrowers, and job recruit- and trustworthy” algorithms an important step, it’s nec-
said in an interview with nancial algorithms and self- ment tools that favor men a major objective of the essary to dig deeper to ad-
The Associated Press. The driving software that are in- in industries where they al- White House’s new AI ini- dress the “pernicious ways”
Oregon Democrat is co- creasingly impacting daily ready dominate. tiative . But it would do so discrimination operates on
sponsoring the bill. life. A bipartisan Senate “There’s this myth that algo- mostly by strengthening an tech platforms, sometimes
“When the companies re- bill introduced last month rithms are these neutral, ob- existing industry-driven pro- unintentionally.
ally go into this, they’re go- would require companies jective things,” said Aaron cess of creating technolog- Booker said biased algo-
ing to be looking for bias in to notify people before us- Rieke, managing director ical standards. rithms are causing the
their systems,” Wyden said. ing facial recognition soft- at advocacy group Upturn. “There’s a need for greater same kind of discrimina-
“I think they’re going to be ware on them, while also “Machine learning picks up transparency and data tory real estate practices
finding a lot.” requiring third-party testing patterns in society — who comparability,” and for de- that sought to steer his New
The Democrats’ proposal is to check for bias problems. does what, who buys what, tecting and reducing bias Jersey parents and other
the first of its kind, and may Academic studies and or who has what job. Those in these systems, said Com- black couples away from
face an uphill battle in the real-life examples have are patterns shaped by is- merce Undersecretary Wal- certain U.S. neighborhoods
Republican-led Senate. But unearthed facial recogni- sues we’ve been struggling ter Copan, who directs the in the late 1960s. This time,
it reflects growing — and tion systems that misiden- with for decades.” National Institute of Stan- he said, it’s harder to de-
bipartisan — scrutiny of the tify darker-skinned women , President Donald Trump’s dards and Technology. tect and fight.q

Facebook cracks down on groups

spreading harmful information

By BARBARA ORTUTAY and RACHEL LERMAN
AP Technology Writers
MENLO PARK, Calif. (AP) — Facebook said Wednesday it is rolling out a wide range of
updates aimed at combatting the spread of false and harmful information on the social
media site — stepping up the company’s fight against misinformation as it faces grow-
ing outside pressure.
The updates will limit the visibility of links found to be significantly more prominent on
Facebook than across the web as a whole. The company is also expanding its fact-
checking program with outside expert sources, including The Associated Press, to vet
videos and other material posted on Facebook.
Facebook groups — the online communities that many point to as lightning rods for the
spread of fake information — will also be more closely monitored. If they are found to be
spreading misinformation, their visibility in users’ news feeds will be limited.
Lawmakers and human rights groups have been critical of the company for the spread
In this Jan. 9, 2019, file photo, media and guests tour Facebook of extremism and misinformation on its flagship site and on Instagram.
offices in Cambridge, Mass., building. Facebook says it is rolling During a larger hearing Tuesday on the spread of white nationalism, congress members
out a wide range of updates aimed at combatting the spread of
false and harmful information on the social media site. questioned a company representative about how Facebook prevents violent material
Associated Press from being uploaded and shared on the site.q