The impact of AI on people who identify as queer is an underexplored area that ethicists and researchers need to consider, along with including more queer voices in their work. Thats according to a recent study from Googles DeepMind that looked at the positive and negative effects of AI on people who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or asexual. Coauthors of a paper on the study include DeepMind senior staff scientist Shakir Mohamed, whose work last year encouraged reforming the AI industry with anticolonialism in mind and queering machine learning as a way to bring about more equitable forms of AI.
The DeepMind paper published earlier this month strikes a similar tone. Given the historical oppression and contemporary challenges faced by queer communities, there is a substantial risk that artificial intelligence (AI) systems will be designed and deployed unfairly for queer individuals, the paper reads.
Data on queer identity is collected less routinely than data around other characteristics. Due to this lack of data, coauthors of the paper refer to unfairness for these individuals as unmeasurable. In health care settings, people may be unwilling to share their sexual orientation due to fear of stigmatization or discrimination. That lack of data, coauthors said, presents unique challenges and could increase risks for people who are undertaking medical gender transitions.
The researchers note that failure to collect relevant data from people who identify as queer may have important downstream consequences for AI system development in health care. It can become impossible to assess fairness and model performance across the omitted dimensions, the paper reads. The coupled risk of a decrease in performance and an inability to measure it could drastically limit the benefits from AI in health care for the queer community, relative to cisgendered heterosexual patients. To prevent the amplification of existing inequities, there is a critical need for targeted fairness research examining the impacts of AI systems in health care for queer people.
The paper considers a number of ways AI can be used to target queer people or impact them negatively in areas like free speech, privacy, and online abuse. Another recent study found shortcomings for people who identify as nonbinary when it comes to AI for fitness tech like the Withings smart scale.
On social media platforms, automated content moderation systems can be used to censor content classified as queer, while automated online abuse detection systems are often not trained to protect transgender people from intentional instances of misgendering or deadnaming.
On the privacy front, the paper states that AI for queer people is also an issue of data management practices, particularly in countries where revealing a persons sexual or gender orientation can be dangerous. You cant recognize a persons sexual orientation from their face as a 2017 Stanford University study claimed, but coauthors of that paper cautioned that AI could be developed to try to classify sexual orientation or gender identity from online behavioral data. AI that claims it can detect people who identify as queer can be used to carry out technology-driven malicious outing campaigns, a particular threat in certain parts of the world.
The ethical implications of developing such systems for queer communities are far-reaching, with the potential of causing serious harms to affected individuals. Prediction algorithms could be deployed at scale by malicious actors, particularly in nations where homosexuality and gender non-conformity are punishable offenses, the DeepMind paper reads. In order to ensure queer algorithmic fairness, it will be important to develop methods that can improve fairness for marginalized groups without having direct access to group membership information.
The paper recommends applying machine learning that uses differential privacy or other privacy-preserving techniques to protect people who identify as queer in online environments. The coauthors also suggest exploration of technical approaches or frameworks that take an intersectional approach to fairness for evaluating AI models. The researchers examine the challenge of mitigating the harm AI inflicts on people who identify as queer, but also on other groups of people with identities or characteristics that cannot be simply observed. Solving algorithmic fairness issues for people who identify as queer, the paper argues, can produce insights that are transferrable to other unobservable characteristics, like class, disability, race, or religion.
The paper also cites studies on the performance of AI for queer communities that have been published in the last few years.
The DeepMind paper is Googles most recent work on the importance of ensuring algorithmic fairness for specific groups of people. Last month, Google researchers concluded in a paper that algorithm fairness approaches developed in the U.S. or other parts of the Western world dont always transfer to India or other non-Western nations.
But these papers examine how to ethically deploy AI at a time when Googles own AI ethics operations are associated with some pretty unethical behavior. Last month, the Wall Street Journal reported that DeepMind cofounder and ethics lead Mustafa Suleyman had most of his management duties stripped before he left the company in 2019, following complaints of abuse and harassment from coworkers. An investigation was subsequently carried out by a private law firm. Months later, Suleyman took a job at Google advising the company on AI policy and regulation, and according to a company spokesperson, Suleyman no longer manages teams.
Google AI ethics lead Margaret Mitchell still appears to be under internal investigation, which her employer took the unusual step of sharing in a public statement. Mitchell recently shared an email she said she sent to Google before the investigation started. In that email, she characterized Googles choice to fire Ethical AI team colead Timnit Gebru weeks earlier as forever after a really, really, really terrible decision.
Gebru was fired while she was working on a research paper about the dangers of large language models. Weeks later, Google released a trillion-parameter model, the largest known language model of its kind. A recently published analysis of GPT-3, a 175-billion parameter language model, concluded that companies like Google and OpenAI have only a matter of months to set standards for addressing the societal consequences of large language models including bias, disinformation, and the potential to replace human jobs. Following the Gebru incident and meetings with leaders of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU), earlier this week Google pledged to fund digital skills training for 100,000 Black women. Prior to accusations of retaliation from former Black female employees like Gebru and diversity recruiter April Curley, Google was accused of mistreatment and retaliation by multiple employees who identify as queer.
Bloomberg reported Wednesday that Google is restructuring its AI ethics research efforts under Google VP of engineering Marian Croak, who is a Black woman. According to Bloomberg, Croak will oversee the Ethical AI team and report directly to Google AI chief Jeff Dean.
See the rest here:
DeepMind researchers say AI poses a threat to people who identify as queer - VentureBeat
- Intentional Community and Capitalism - Shareable - April 10th, 2024 [April 10th, 2024]
- How alternative communities have evolved from pacifist communes to a solution to the ageing population - The Conversation - March 12th, 2024 [March 12th, 2024]
- Georgia Power Announced T. Dallas Smith named to Georgia ... - All On Georgia - November 18th, 2023 [November 18th, 2023]
- CSRWire - Thought Leaders Gather for Critical Community ... - CSRwire.com - November 18th, 2023 [November 18th, 2023]
- EPA centers diversity with first-ever environmental youth advisory council - Yahoo News - November 18th, 2023 [November 18th, 2023]
- Rigor, Relevance, & Reality: Education Collaboratory at Yale ... - Yale School of Medicine - November 18th, 2023 [November 18th, 2023]
- Gaza: UN experts call on international community to prevent ... - ReliefWeb - November 18th, 2023 [November 18th, 2023]
- Fathering Together Announces Acquisition of City Dads Group - PR Web - November 18th, 2023 [November 18th, 2023]
- Company to pay over $50 million in largest environmental lawsuit settlement in D.C. history: Health risks to the public - Yahoo News - November 18th, 2023 [November 18th, 2023]
- Student death is now part of the routine at Middlebury - The Middlebury Campus - November 18th, 2023 [November 18th, 2023]
- We welcomed an abandoned dog into our family. But dog dumping ... - Kansas Reflector - November 18th, 2023 [November 18th, 2023]
- The National Climate Assessment Goes Woke - Dallasweekly - November 18th, 2023 [November 18th, 2023]
- A Conversation about History, Race and the Meaning of True ... - Philanthropy Roundtable - November 18th, 2023 [November 18th, 2023]
- The color of community | WORLD - WORLD News Group - November 18th, 2023 [November 18th, 2023]
- Kindness has good benefits | News, Sports, Jobs - The Review - November 18th, 2023 [November 18th, 2023]
- Georgia Power Foundation awards grant for BIG Edge ... - Georgia Southern University Newsroom - November 18th, 2023 [November 18th, 2023]
- "Chilling": Maryland lawmakers threaten to cut aid to immigrants ... - Salon - November 18th, 2023 [November 18th, 2023]
- Three water options come with high cost | News, Sports, Jobs - Evening Observer - November 18th, 2023 [November 18th, 2023]
- Welcome to the Team, Kintan! | Office of Immigrant Affairs - Philadelphia Water Department - July 11th, 2023 [July 11th, 2023]
- Fannie Mae Recognized for Its DEI Efforts - DSNews.com - July 11th, 2023 [July 11th, 2023]
- Fannie Mae Named 'Best Place to Work for Disability Inclusion' and ... - Fannie Mae - July 11th, 2023 [July 11th, 2023]
- Focused on progress - Weekly Challenger - July 11th, 2023 [July 11th, 2023]
- Good Ancestors and Messengers of Hope - Digital Journal - July 11th, 2023 [July 11th, 2023]
- 'Make it intentional': 3-N-1 Trinity Services helps young ... - Longview News-Journal - July 11th, 2023 [July 11th, 2023]
- 'Latinistas' is the World's First All-Latina Fashion Doll Line - hiplatina.com - July 11th, 2023 [July 11th, 2023]
- CSU Releases Findings of Three-Year Research Study on NAVA'S ... - InvestorsObserver - July 11th, 2023 [July 11th, 2023]
- Press Ganey's Physician of the Year on a cardiology 'game changer ... - Becker's Hospital Review - July 11th, 2023 [July 11th, 2023]
- City Officials Join Summer Campers and Local Artists to Kick Off ... - Philadelphia Water Department - July 11th, 2023 [July 11th, 2023]
- Merrill and Linda Hutchinson on Communication for a Summer of ... - Digital Journal - July 11th, 2023 [July 11th, 2023]
- Feathers installed as Rotary District Governor | News, Sports, Jobs - The Inter-Mountain - July 11th, 2023 [July 11th, 2023]
- Theatre at St. Luke's: All Shook Up to The Little Mermaid - Orlando Sentinel - July 11th, 2023 [July 11th, 2023]
- Culture wars rage on, forcing marketers to decide whether to ... - Marketing Dive - July 11th, 2023 [July 11th, 2023]
- Some thoughts on governance of the local variety - Resilience - July 6th, 2023 [July 6th, 2023]
- 988 is saving lives, but more awareness and support needed - Alton Telegraph - July 6th, 2023 [July 6th, 2023]
- The Limitations of Eco-Anxiety | Atmos - Atmos Magazine - July 6th, 2023 [July 6th, 2023]
- Welcome Back: How JAPER Becomes Real for the People in Brazil ... - Just Security - July 6th, 2023 [July 6th, 2023]
- Now Is the Time to Go All In on Heat Pumps - Rocky Mountain Institute - July 6th, 2023 [July 6th, 2023]
- Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) celebrates 40th ... - Elizabethton.com - July 6th, 2023 [July 6th, 2023]
- Discrimination or bureaucracy? A Jewish community in Germany ... - The Jerusalem Post - July 6th, 2023 [July 6th, 2023]
- AAP Rules And Guidelines For How To Keep Kids Safe From Cars - Fatherly - July 6th, 2023 [July 6th, 2023]
- Pine County Sheriff's Report and Jail Roster | Communities ... - Pine City Pioneer - July 6th, 2023 [July 6th, 2023]
- Is a Hanan Ben Ari concert the solution for Jewish divisions? - opinion - The Jerusalem Post - July 6th, 2023 [July 6th, 2023]
- What the LGBT wedding website Supreme Court ruling means for ... - The Atlanta Journal Constitution - July 6th, 2023 [July 6th, 2023]
- Out at CHM hosts its first 2023 event - Windy City Times - July 6th, 2023 [July 6th, 2023]
- 'The time is now': Longtime friends launch support organization for ... - The Lawrence Times - July 6th, 2023 [July 6th, 2023]
- La Vergne Receives Municipal League Award for Excellence in Fire ... - rutherfordsource.com - July 6th, 2023 [July 6th, 2023]
- UW System offers status update on its five-year strategic plan (day 1 ... - University of Wisconsin System - July 6th, 2023 [July 6th, 2023]
- Hawaii Native Krystal Ka'ai Tackles Equity And Anti-Asian Hate For ... - Honolulu Civil Beat - July 6th, 2023 [July 6th, 2023]
- News & events / News - Diocese of York - July 6th, 2023 [July 6th, 2023]
- Businesses that address social or environmental problems often ... - The Conversation - July 6th, 2023 [July 6th, 2023]
- EFOC: Is This Happening To Me Because I'm Black? Combating ... - Essence - July 6th, 2023 [July 6th, 2023]
- Stations Telling Diverse Stories With Sponsored Segments from ... - Next TV - July 6th, 2023 [July 6th, 2023]
- Ex-Prisoners Face Headwinds as Job Seekers, Even as Openings ... - The New York Times - July 6th, 2023 [July 6th, 2023]
- Bungie weighs in on the current argument raging through the ... - PC Gamer - July 6th, 2023 [July 6th, 2023]
- Myanmar: Dire humanitarian and human rights situation ... - OHCHR - June 30th, 2023 [June 30th, 2023]
- Invest in our public schools - EdNC - June 30th, 2023 [June 30th, 2023]
- N.Y. stands up for LGBTQ equality: Having Pride 12 months a year - New York Daily News - June 30th, 2023 [June 30th, 2023]
- NASCAR, Bubba Wallace bring 'Bubba's Block Party' to Chicago - Daytona Times - June 30th, 2023 [June 30th, 2023]
- Fifth Third's 2022 Sustainability Report Shares Progress on Priorities ... - InvestorsObserver - June 30th, 2023 [June 30th, 2023]
- Top LGBTQ+ Financial Influencers to Learn from in 2023 - Investopedia - June 30th, 2023 [June 30th, 2023]
- 'Retirement is so traditional,' try periodic retirement to figure out ... - Morningstar - June 30th, 2023 [June 30th, 2023]
- Crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous people brings federal ... - New Mexico In Depth - June 30th, 2023 [June 30th, 2023]
- The Astounding Power of Intentional Productivity (And How You Can ... - The Good Men Project - June 30th, 2023 [June 30th, 2023]
- What SCOTUS ruling on affirmative action means for UL schools - Louisiana Radio Network - June 30th, 2023 [June 30th, 2023]
- Community managers find the path for developers and players to ... - VentureBeat - June 30th, 2023 [June 30th, 2023]
- The EPA was ready to clean up 'Cancer Alley.' Then it backed off. - Grist - June 30th, 2023 [June 30th, 2023]
- What Bidenomics Means for Workers and Families - UpNorthNews - June 30th, 2023 [June 30th, 2023]
- The vital link between a healthy press and our republic - The Fulcrum - June 30th, 2023 [June 30th, 2023]
- Death, Drag, and Decadence shows off the queer joy of DnD - Wargamer - June 30th, 2023 [June 30th, 2023]
- Israeli Expats in the U.S.: 'I Speak English, but I Don't Speak American' - Tablet Magazine - June 30th, 2023 [June 30th, 2023]
- NTSB hearings end with talks on tanker conditions, fire's aftermath - Marietta Times - June 30th, 2023 [June 30th, 2023]
- Can 'Friendship Clubs' Cure the Loneliness Created by Remote Work? - The San Francisco Standard - June 4th, 2023 [June 4th, 2023]
- 'Men in Blazers' Podcast Comes to Higher Ground to Talk Vermont ... - Seven Days - June 4th, 2023 [June 4th, 2023]
- Mindfulness, breathwork expert preaches value of slow living to Black and brown communities - Yahoo News - June 4th, 2023 [June 4th, 2023]
- Idaho's physician shortage is here. Here's what we can do about it. - Idaho Capital Sun - June 4th, 2023 [June 4th, 2023]
- Awards Ceremony Shines Spotlight on Caltech's Trailblazers in ... - Caltech - June 4th, 2023 [June 4th, 2023]
- The African American Museum of Iowa Announces Juneteenth ... - River Cities Reader - June 4th, 2023 [June 4th, 2023]
- US Supreme Court Rules Against Striking Drivers Who Abandoned ... - Engineering News-Record - June 4th, 2023 [June 4th, 2023]
- The Future of the Thomaston Green is Green (or should be) - PenBayPilot.com - June 4th, 2023 [June 4th, 2023]
- The Elephant in the Ethernet Port - City Journal - June 4th, 2023 [June 4th, 2023]