Could AI Further Entrench Existing Global Inequalities?

Last month, Web Summit was held in the Middle East for the first time. The event, held in Doha, is the biggest technology conference globally. While the conference had participants from dozens of countries around the globe, the prevailing topic at this year’s conference was artificial intelligence and its capabilities.

There is great excitement surrounding AI given its application in various sectors. However, concerns about its use are also increasing, particularly the fact that it could worsen inequities that divide the world.

Black Lives Matter cocreator Ayo Tometi believes that technologies such as AI may amplify biases that exist. During the Web Summit, Tometi explained that prejudice was being programmed into these technologies as had already been seen. She added that these biases needed to be addressed. She then gave the example of predictive policing tools that were particularly harmful to individuals of color, especially Black people, in the United States.

One report shows that two primary types of AI tools are used in America. The first draws on data about individuals, such as their gender or age, to predict who is more likely to engage in crime. The second tool uses location-based algorithms to forecast where crime is likely to occur.

Additionally, research by Deloitte shows that smart technologies may help cities decrease crime by 30%–40%. Tometi explained that these smart technologies were a serious cause for alarm, especially since anti-Blackness and racism within the criminal justice system was yet to be addressed. She argued that these technologies were assumed to be neutral, which wasn’t the case.

Tometi gave the example of individuals who had been locked up because of faulty facial scans, noting that these technologies didn’t recognize Afrocentric features. In her closing, Tometi highlighted that there was much discrimination and bias that was being normalized through these technologies.

Experts are also concerned by the fact that artificial intelligence may worsen the digital divide globally. However, Digital Cooperation Organization’s Alaa Abdulaal stated during the summit that countries needed to advance their development of AI by working toward becoming producers instead of consumers. He added that creating upskilling opportunities could help reduce this digital divide, noting that civil organizations in the society would need to chip in as governments could not undertake this alone.

This sentiment on production wasn’t shared by others, including Evoteq CEO Jihad Tayara, who noted that while AI consumption around the globe was reducing the digital divide, some countries had no foundation for production.

The challenge is now upon tech giants that are at the forefront of AI technologies, such as Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL), to come up with solutions that leave no one behind and also address any existing biases which could be worsened by generative AI.

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