Whiteness of AI could ‘exacerbate racial inequality’, researchers suggest

The experts looked at recent research from a range of fields, including Human-Computer Interaction and Critical Race Theory, to demonstrate that machines can be racialised, and that this perpetuates “real world” racial biases.

The “whiteness” of artificial intelligence (AI) removes people of colour from the way humanity thinks about its technology-enhanced future, researchers argue.

Experts from England's University of Cambridge suggest current portrayals and stereotypes about AI risk creating a “racially homogenous” workforce of aspiring technologists, creating machines with bias baked into their algorithms.