Experts Agree: Involving Women is Crucial for Reducing AI Gender Bias – Google, UNESCO Lead the Way

Google’s Bard, in collaboration with UNESCO and Indian experts, suggests that involving women in the development of Artificial Intelligence (AI) can lead to the creation of AI that is fair, unbiased, and beneficial to all. This comes as the rapid growth of AI raises concerns about its impact on society.

Previously, it was emphasized that artificial intelligence uses data produced by humans, but it also inherits human flaws, such as distortions of age, gender or race.

Google Bard’s AI chatbot shared an example of gender bias. He said that if a data set consists of mostly male engineers, an AI system trained on that data set might be more likely to make decisions in favor of men.

The chatbot then said, “Involving women in the AI lifecycle can help reduce bias in AI systems in several ways. First, women can help identify and correct bias in the data used to train AI systems. Second, women can help develop AI systems that are more inclusive and consider the needs of all users. Third, women can help ensure that AI systems are used fairly and ethically.

In March, UNESCO’s Social Sciences and Humanities Sector launched the “Ethical AI Platform for Women 4” during a high-level event. It said: “This new platform offers a unique space for global quality leaders in the gender equality sector of leading technologies to combine their strengths and influence to achieve the express goal of implementing the UNESCO recommendation on the ethics of artificial intelligence from a gender perspective.”

UNESCO engages women in AI by recommending the promotion and deployment of ethical AI for equitable and inclusive outcomes, with a particular focus on gender diversity and empowerment.

The platform focuses on:

• allocate funds to gender-related programs
• Ensure that national digital policies include an equality action plan
• We encourage women’s entrepreneurship, participation and leadership in artificial intelligence
• Invest in programs to increase the participation of girls and women in STEM and ICT fields
• Remove gender stereotypes and ensure AI systems are not biased.

It’s time for India

Neha Swetambari, head of product and delivery at Think360.ai, told ReturnByte the importance of getting more women into AI: “AI enables a segmented approach to a huge consumer base like ours. Hence, India, while slow to adopt AI, is making progress explosively. In the process, inherent biases become part of the system.”

He believes that a diverse workforce helps detect biases faster and make it easier to correct them. “Biases from lower female labor force participation or lower property ownership in the risk framework should be controlled by using equity-based weights for the right metrics and criteria.”

Sachin Arora, Partner and Head, Lighthouse (Data, AI & Analytics), KPMG in India said that AI literacy should be one of the key areas of focus as it increases GDP when AI productivity and jobs are taken into account.

“We are increasingly moving towards organizations that will become artificial intelligence models. While we are witnessing tremendous change, diversity of perspective becomes even more important. The AI teams building these models must be representative of the population they serve, otherwise there is a huge risk of significant bias affecting the results of these models.

Meanwhile, Dr Mamta Arora, Assistant Professor, Department of Computer Science and Technology, Manav Rachna University, also highlighted the importance of women’s inclusion, saying that gender bias in AI systems can perpetuate inequality in society and reinforce stereotypes, leading to decision-making. . Biases and unfair results.

“In India, like many other countries, there is a growing interest in artificial intelligence and its potential applications. We can empower women in AI by promoting STEM education, women’s participation in AI research, supporting women-led startups, and creating funding programs and initiatives that inspire and support girls to participate in AI-related fields and awareness of employment prospects in the AI field, Professor Arora stated.

Smita Khanna, Chief Operating Officer of Newton Consulting Group, stated that due to rapid digitization, now is the best time to activate and encourage women to become more involved in AI, which can be done through educational initiatives, scholarships, mentoring and outreach. programs and networks. Custom support.

She believes that AI can play a role in combating gender-based violence in India. Referring to the 2022 National Family Health Survey report, Khanna said that nearly a third of women have experienced physical or sexual violence.

Indian non-profit organization Safecity uses artificial intelligence to collect and analyze data on sexual harassment and violence against women. This information is then used to identify patterns, promote policy and implement preventive measures in communities.”