Why isn't Unmasking AI tagged 'memoir'? This is, without doubt, Joy Buolamwini's personal story. It starts with the class project where she noticed thWhy isn't Unmasking AI tagged 'memoir'? This is, without doubt, Joy Buolamwini's personal story. It starts with the class project where she noticed that a face recognition library wouldn't recognize her face unless she wore a white Halloween mask. The book shows her - reluctantly, at first - being pulled from standard computer science research into algorithmic bias. She noticed the injustices that AI development was building up. She became a spokesperson for AI ethics. She started the Algorithmic Justice League, testified before Congress, went to the White House, talked to the press, held exhibits about the risks of AI biases... all while working on her PhD.
This memoir ends when she defends her PhD thesis.
Buolamwini's struggle to get through the academic machine is a fascinating one, considering all the things she was doing while she was a student. In one chapter, Buolamwini tells her thesis committee that bias in AI has the potential to severely harm women, ethnic and gender minorities. Joy says she wants to write her PhD thesis on AI bias. What would you do in this case? Probably hear the evidence and say, yeah, thank you for dedicating your time to this. And what does her committee say? They question whether the harm would really be significant enough to warrant their attention. Who even cares, right?
This conversation was a mirror image of something I experienced with my own dissertation progress review. I wanted to develop new AI techniques for my field, and was met with "What's the win for physics? Why should we bother to switch from old-school methods?" Unlike Joy Buolamwini's, the academic inertia I encountered had no humanitarian implications, thankfully. But it was surreal to see her go through the same interactions as me -- while she was a public figure spearheading the field she wanted to write her dissertation in.
In the chapter about her Congress testimony, Buolamwini makes a point about how fantastic it was to get bipartisan support on the algorithmic bias issue. But I'm worried that the way Unmasking AI is written might create a struggle to attract readers who don't identify with the Progressive Left. I hope that readers who tend to grow wary when a narrative uses politicized terms will still read Joy Buolamwini's story, because her personal journey is worth reading about....more