Girls for Algorithmic Justice Helps Lead The Way To Improve AI
My hometown, Matawan, New Jersey, has produced many exceptionally bright, interesting people, including Anika Dugal.
Anika is founder of Girls for Algorithmic Justice. This is a global grassroots coalition of young women taking political action and advocacy to address the gender and racial disparities in artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. Prudential Financial selected Anika, now bound for Duke University, as one of their 25 Emerging Visionaries.
As you will learn from my conversation with Anika, Girls for Algorithmic Justice is no mere advocacy or interest group.
The scope of Girls for Algorithmic Justice is ambitious.
It includes, as of today:
- Ethical practices for the use of AI.
- Addressing gender and racial biases that happen through the use of AI.
- Impacts of AI on areas such as climate change, sustainability and human rights.
- Establishing mechanisms for public accountability for the use of AI
- Encouraging more women to work towards the advancement and development of AI tools
- Provide an intellectual forum for the membership to advance tools and policies
I dropped some photos up top and below of gatherings, virtual and in-person of Girls for Algorithmic Justice that Anika shared with me.
I was quite impressed by Anika’s grasp of technology and policy as well as her ability to set direction for Girls for Algorithmic Justice.
It is unusual for adult experts, let alone high school students, to form an organization around topics that elected leaders have only started to explore. This is not like the birth of a national environmental movement over 50 years ago. The momentum behind Earth Day, for example, was driven by experienced activists and politicians. They already had considerable information about the impacts of air and water pollution. The more devastating impacts, such as oil spills, were prominently in the news, and easy for many citizens to understand. Anika told me that young people are well suited to lead change within AI. They have grown up around the technology. The brightest can teach their parents how to use it. It isn’t fair for me to write more when you can listen to Anika tell you more.
I was curious to ask Anika how AI might create bias in college admissions.
These were her thoughts:
- Artificial intelligence can speed up the application process. It can relieve admissions officers of tedious tasks such as processing transcripts and sifting through large amounts of data.
- Colleges must actively work to address and prevent potential system biases. The largest issues with artificial intelligence are its tendencies to be biased against certain groups–usually people of color–especially if the offices are using algorithms with built-in biases.
- AI in college admissions can further skew advantages towards wealthy applicants. An AI-powered system might reduce the holistic nature of college admissions, by creating a somewhat rigid set of requirements that the algorithms are looking for. Wealthy applicants are more likely to work with specialized college counselors. They could have an edge at shaping their applications to match what the algorithms are seeking.
In some ways I agree. I can see many schools, particularly flagship state universities, relying more on AI to screen candidates for high-demand majors. AI could then “boot out” those who do not have the minimum preparation to enter a major before an admissions officer gets to read them. The tools could also set levels of preparation; those at the highest levels would be favored for admission and scholarships. However, in these cases biases can happen. The best prepared students come from the best-resourced schools. Those schools are more likely to be in well-to-do communities. I also wonder, given social media, if the word about methods to “game” such tools would get out. That too, favors, a better-resourced student.
In addition, an algorithm cannot be programmed so that race is considered with no explanation from the student as to how their race has impacted their life and interests. Students do that through essays and possibly interviews. Most important, the best qualified students for admissions to selective schools and high-demand majors, like Anika, hove considerable curiosity about their studies outside of the classroom. A thoughtful human admissions officer, not an AI tool, should be reading their essays to know more about their curiosity.
Listen to my conversation with Anika Dugal!
Buy my new book, The Good College!
Listen to my latest interview on ‘Tests and the Rest’ with Amy Seeley and Mike Bergin!
Check out my talk, What Exactly Is a Good College? hosted by test-prep experts Amy Seeley and Mike Bergin on Tests And The Rest!
Listen to my talk, College Is A Learning AND Living Community hosted by Dr. Cynthia Colon from Destination YOUniversity on Voice of America Radio!
