[kictanet] Girl Trouble: Breaking Through The Bias in Artificial Intelligence

[Lydia gachungi]

*UNESCO and the World Economic Forum present Girl Trouble: Breaking Through
The Bias in AI on International Women's Day, 8th March, 3:00 pm - 5:30 pm
(CET). This timely round-table brings together a range of leading female
voices in tech to confront the deep-rooted gender imbalances skewing the
development of artificial intelligence. Today critics charge that AI feeds
on biased data-sets, amplifying the existing the anti-female biases of our
societies, and that AI is perpetuating harmful stereotypes of women as
submissive and subservient. Is it any wonder when only 22% of AI
professionals globally are women?*

Our panellists are female change-makers in AI. From C-suite professionals
taking decisions which affect us all, to women innovating new AI tools and
policies to help vulnerable groups, to those courageously exposing
injustice and algorithmic biases, we welcome:

   1. *Gabriela Ramos,* Assistant Director-General of Social and Human
   Sciences, UNESCO, leading the development of UNESCO’s Recommendation on
   the Ethics of AI <https://en.unesco.org/artificial-intelligence/ethics>,
   the first global standard-setting instrument in the field.

   2. *Kay Firth-Butterfield*, Keynote speaker. Kay was the world’s first
   chief AI Ethics Officer. As Head of AI & Machine Learning, and a Member of
   the Executive Committee of the World Economic Forum, Kay develops new
   alliances to promote awareness of gender bias in AI;

   3. *Ashwini Asokan*, CEO of Chennai-based AI company, Mad Street Den.
   She explores how Artificial Intelligence can be applied meaningfully and
   made accessible to billions across the globe;

   4. *Adriana Bora* a researcher using machine learning to boost
   compliance with the UK and Australian Modern Slavery Acts, and to combat
   modern slavery, including the trafficking of women;

   5. *Anne Bioulac*, a member of the Women in Africa Initiative,
   developing AI-enabled online learning to empower African women to use AI in
   digital entrepreneurship;

   6. *Meredith Broussard*, a software developer and associate professor of
   data journalism at New York University, whose research focuses on AI in
   investigative reporting, with a particular interest in using data analysis
   for social good ;

   7. *Latifa Mohammed Al-AbdulKarim*, named by Forbes magazine as one of
   100 Brilliant Women in AI Ethics, and as one of the women defining AI in
   the 21st century;

   8. *Wanda Munoz*, of the Latin American Human Security Network. One of
   the Nobel Women’s Initiative's 2020 peacebuilders, she raises aware-ness
   around gender-based violence and autonomous weapons;

   9. *Nanjira Sambuli*, a Member of the UN Secretary General’s High-Level
   Panel for Digital Cooperation and Advisor for the A+ Alliance for Inclusive
   Algorithms;

   10. *Jutta Williams*, Product Manager at Twitter, analyzing how Twitter
   can improve its models to reduce bias.

There's an urgent need for more women to participate in and lead the
design, development, and deployment of AI systems. Evidence shows that by
2022, 85% of AI projects will deliver erroneous outcomes due to bias.

AI Recruiters searching for female AI specialists online just cannot find
them. Companies hiring experts for AI and data science jobs estimate fewer
than 1 per cent of the applications they receive come from women. Women and
girls are 4 times less likely to know how to programme computers, and 13
times less likely to file for technology patent. They are also less likely
to occupy leadership positions in tech companies.

Building on UNESCO’s cutting edge research in this field, and flagship 2019
publication “*I’d Blush if I Could*
<https://en.unesco.org/Id-blush-if-I-could>”, and policy guidance on gender
equality in the 2020 UNESCO Draft Recommendation on the Ethics of
Artificial Intelligence <https://en.unesco.org/AI-and-GE-2020>, the panel
will look at:

   1. The 4th industrial revolution is on our doorstop, and gender equality
   risks being set back decades; What more can we do to attract more women to
   design jobs in AI, and to support them to take their seats on the boards of
   tech companies.

   2. How can AI help us advance women and girls' rights in society? And
   how can we solve the problem of algorithmic gender bias in AI systems?

Women’s leadership in the AI Sector at all levels, from big tech to the
start-up AI economy in developing countries will be placed under the
micro-scope.

*REGISTRATION*

*For Media:*

This event will be followed by an interactive question and answer session
between the media and panellists.

Please click *here
<https://unesco-org.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_PehJNr7hQG6og1bO9Xt0qA>* to
register.

*For General Public:*

Please click *here* <https://en.unesco.org/girltrouble/registration> to
register.

https://en.unesco.org/girltrouble
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