Knock It Off<\/strong><\/h2>It’s convenient to imagine that this acronym just sort of emerged<\/em> by coincidence, but let’s not indulge in that particular fantasy.<\/p>It’s more likely that tech geeks cackled maniacally when they came up with the acronym, and the refusal to do better even when people looking up the conference in good faith are bombarded with porn<\/a> is a particularly telling failure of the AI research community.<\/p>Small Things Matter<\/strong><\/h2>This problem goes far beyond a silly name — women are severely underrepresented in technology research and even more so when it comes to artificial intelligence. And if human decency — comforting those who are regularly alienated by the powers that be — isn’t enough of a reason to challenge the sexist culture embedded in tech research<\/a>, just think about what we miss out on.<\/p>True progress in artificial intelligence cannot happen without a broad range of diverse voices<\/a> — voices that are silenced by “locker room talk” among an old boy’s club. Otherwise, our technological development will become just as stuck in place as our cultural development often seems to be.<\/p>READ MORE:<\/strong> AI RESEARCHERS FIGHT OVER FOUR LETTERS: NIPS<\/a> [WIRED<\/em>]<\/p>More on Silicon Valley sexism: The Tech Industry’s Gender Problem Isn’t Just Hurting Women<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>![](\"https:\/\/wp-assets.futurism.com\/2018\/10\/NIPS-1200x630.png\")
<\/p>
See the article here:
An AI Conference Refusing a Name Change Highlights a Tech Industry Problem<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Name Game There\u2019s a prominent artificial intelligence conference that goes by the suggestive acronym NIPS, which stands for \u201cNeural Information Processing Systems.\u201d After receiving complaints that the acronym was alienating to women, the conference\u2019s leadership\u00a0collected suggestions for a new name via an online poll, according to\u00a0 WIRED . But the conference announced\u00a0Monday that it would be sticking with NIPS all the same . Continue reading
It’s more likely that tech geeks cackled maniacally when they came up with the acronym, and the refusal to do better even when people looking up the conference in good faith are bombarded with porn<\/a> is a particularly telling failure of the AI research community.<\/p> This problem goes far beyond a silly name — women are severely underrepresented in technology research and even more so when it comes to artificial intelligence. And if human decency — comforting those who are regularly alienated by the powers that be — isn’t enough of a reason to challenge the sexist culture embedded in tech research<\/a>, just think about what we miss out on.<\/p> True progress in artificial intelligence cannot happen without a broad range of diverse voices<\/a> — voices that are silenced by “locker room talk” among an old boy’s club. Otherwise, our technological development will become just as stuck in place as our cultural development often seems to be.<\/p> READ MORE:<\/strong> AI RESEARCHERS FIGHT OVER FOUR LETTERS: NIPS<\/a> [WIRED<\/em>]<\/p> More on Silicon Valley sexism: The Tech Industry’s Gender Problem Isn’t Just Hurting Women<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p> See the article here: Name Game There\u2019s a prominent artificial intelligence conference that goes by the suggestive acronym NIPS, which stands for \u201cNeural Information Processing Systems.\u201d After receiving complaints that the acronym was alienating to women, the conference\u2019s leadership\u00a0collected suggestions for a new name via an online poll, according to\u00a0 WIRED . But the conference announced\u00a0Monday that it would be sticking with NIPS all the same . Continue reading Small Things Matter<\/strong><\/h2>
<\/p>
An AI Conference Refusing a Name Change Highlights a Tech Industry Problem<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"