Do you sometimes ponder the capabilities our technology has in our modern society? No matter your answer to this question, it will surprise you to find out the extent of our technology. Coded Bias is a film that discusses this very subject in-depth and even more shocking truths.
You can view the trailer here: Coded Bias Trailer
This documentary starts with a pretty young black woman, Shalini Kantayya, who talks about one of her MIT projects. This project brought about many questions to her. She was developing face recognition software which was embedded in a vanity mirror. Shalini was confused as to why the algorithm did not recognize her beautiful face when she stood or sat in front of the mirror. Then she held up a white mask over her face. Instantly, the software recognized this mask as a face by lighting up green and stating "face detected". This revelation made her more curious. Curious enough to research why this was the case.
In her findings, Shalini discovered with facial recognition software programs white males were detected with the most accuracy. Then white women, black men, and lastly, herself, a black woman. The accuracy percentage difference was shocking. I would provide those numbers here, but I want to give you, the reader, an incentive to watch this amazing film. Shalini decided after compiling more evidence for this phenomenon, to educate others. She also decided to reach out to friends who are in the same field to see if they have encountered this truth as well. Some of her friends who were white have noticed this trend. Shalani and her friends know after their activism has been built up there was only one thing left to do. Bring the awareness of technology algorithm bias to Congressmen and women. Will this truth fall on deaf ears? Watch this documentary to find out.
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