Bias In Our Digital Democracy: The Fight For Algorithmic Justice

By Andrea Bazoin, M.Ed.

Democracy, as we’ve known it, is dead. And, perhaps this is good news. Because, if democracy is the will of the people, then widespread access to digital tools may allow more of us to be heard.

Of course, this is a gross oversimplification.

Democracy, like most social institutions, is a highly complicated and nuanced blend of ideas and practices. When it comes to our representative democracy, we the people often have more questions than answers.

• Do our votes really count?

• Whose voices actually get heard and by whom?

• Who gets the opportunity to run for office, and which special interests have a vested financial interest in their success?

• How can we remain well-informed citizens, when the search for credible information has become a moving target?

We’ve asked these questions for hundreds of years. So, what makes today’s digital democracy so different?

Two Words: Coded Bias

We may have the impression that the ones and zeros of computer code are neutral. Factual. Devoid of bias. But, who creates the countless lines of code used for everything from political polling chatbots, to social media feeds, to biometric identity verification tools that may be used in voting machines? Human beings — people who carry subconscious ideas, preferences and biases.

These coded biases have real-world, unpredictable consequences that give rise to brand new questions that reach well beyond politics:

• What kind of information is being gathered about us when we use technology? Who is gathering it? And, what are they doing with it?

• Can we trust what we see or hear online? What is real and what is created digitally?

• If tech companies feed us only the predicted and curated information that fits our historical preferences, will we lose our ability for critical thinking and empathy?

• Is Artificial Intelligence (AI) fallible? In other words, can it predict, filter, rank or match incorrectly? If so, what are the consequences?

Joy Buolamwini is a Ph.D. student in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Media Lab and poet of code. She faced many of these questions while creating a fun AI-based class project called the Aspire Mirror. The idea of the mirror was to allow her to project an inspiring image onto her face for a boost of confidence. This idea required facial detection software.

Two of the essential pillars of democracy are liberty and equality. AI erodes both these principles. — Sukhayl Niyazov in The Future of Democracy in the AI Era

While the software worked to detect the faces of her lighter-skinned colleagues, it didn’t work to detect her darker-skinned visage. To use the software, she had to cover her face with a cheap, white craft-store mask. In her 2016 TED Talk, she coined the term “coded gaze” to describe the algorithmic bias she experienced.

Unfortunately, this wasn’t the first time Buolamwini experienced algorithmic bias.

The Fight For Algorithmic Justice

Eventually, Buolamwini founded the Algorithmic Justice League, “an organization that combines art and research to illuminate the social implications and harms of artificial intelligence.” Buolamwini’s story was also featured in a documentary called “Coded Bias,” directed and produced by Shalini Kantayya, which shines a light on the issue of widespread algorithmic bias in areas like law enforcement, citizen surveillance, housing, healthcare, employability, credit-worthiness and more. “Coded Bias” premiered at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival and is now playing at more than 70 virtual cinemas.

Along with Buolamwini, other global researchers like United States (U.S.)-based author and mathematician Dr. Cathy O’Neil, United Kingdom (U.K.)-based director and activist Silkie Carlo and international data rights legal expert Ravi Naik appeared in the film. Each to give testimony to their findings of algorithmic injustice.

Today, the list of organizations and people engaged in fighting against algorithmic bias is growing steadily. At the same time, this work is not always supported — especially by those in a position to profit from the unregulated use of AI.

For example, as of the writing of this column, there is public controversy surrounding the allegedly forced resignation of Timnit Gebru, Ph. D. former staff research scientist and co-lead of ethical artificial intelligence team at Google. She was prevented from presenting a research paper that detailed the potential risks related to an AI-generated language model thought to encode privilege to the language patterns of wealthy nations.

Joy Buolamwini in mask, Courtesy of Coded Bias Media Kit

Algorithmic Bias And Democracy

Algorithmic bias has a direct impact on so many aspects of our society — replicating years of historic bias already experienced by minoritized citizens. The more people feel they are not being represented fairly, the greater the risk of eroding the foundations of our representative democracy.

Unfortunately, algorithmic bias is just one of the many factors threatening our democracy. Other factors include:

• Synthetic data such as fake videos (deepfakes) are able to show us photorealistic fake videos of people synced to the audio.

• Hyper-customized search results feed us a distorted view of the world where everyone shares our perspective (i.e. filter bubbles).

• Election interference from foreign and domestic extremists use social media as a vehicle to manipulate and deceive voters.

Joy Buolamwini, Courtesy of Coded Bias Media Kit

What Does This Mean For Culturally Fluid Citizens?

It seems the answers are just as complex and unpredictable as democracy itself. As tech companies build AI-based tools to collect and filter data to share with political candidates and elected officials, our unique, culturally fluid perspectives may be lost. Worse, we may experience algorithmic bias in our own lives.

The disruption of the digital age extends to every aspect of our lives, including the foundations of civil society as we know it. Now, more than ever, we must find real-world, concrete ways to participate in democracy — beyond digital. Pick up the phone and call your elected official. Volunteer to get out the vote. Write letters. Join community organizations.

Don’t let your beautiful, unique perspective be reduced to ones and zeros.