NewsVine_Mariyam
Diamond Member
News coming out of the EEOC is always of interest however this article is especially interesting to me because last week I posted some information regarding the state of multiculturalism in cybersecurity and how an environment of inclusion is better for everyone.
Of course the mere mention of Black people moving into spaces that have been traditionally occupied by white males was met with all of the usual tired stereotypes about "unqualified Blacks" displacing "(naturally) much more qualified whites". I'm not sure if they took a vote or if they're all just wired the same way but the consensus seems to be that the only way Black people could move into these spaces is by lowering the bar for us which then seems to then imply that there has been nor could there ever be anything of value that we have to bring to the table.
Well this article is a perfect example of why a diverse perspective is needed and helpful if you want to be truly equitable and just. A white male workforce crafting questions and responses to the myriad of questions that people all around the world (not just in the U.S.) might pose to an AI creation, whether that be Alexa, Siri or the algorithm your talent acquisition system uses to screen and weed out job applicants as in the case in the article regarding Amazon, you're only going to get the perspective of the predominant demographic no matter how fair they might try to be
Amazon, for instance, abandoned its own resume-scanning tool to recruit top talent after finding it favored men for technical
roles — in part because it was comparing job candidates against the company’s own male-dominated tech workforce.
In any case, it's a good read if you are intrigued by these types of things as I am, particularly since it explains what I attempting to explaining regarding the diverse cybersecurity task force, but this is even better because the EEOC is aware of the shortcomings of these systems already.
Of course the mere mention of Black people moving into spaces that have been traditionally occupied by white males was met with all of the usual tired stereotypes about "unqualified Blacks" displacing "(naturally) much more qualified whites". I'm not sure if they took a vote or if they're all just wired the same way but the consensus seems to be that the only way Black people could move into these spaces is by lowering the bar for us which then seems to then imply that there has been nor could there ever be anything of value that we have to bring to the table.
Well this article is a perfect example of why a diverse perspective is needed and helpful if you want to be truly equitable and just. A white male workforce crafting questions and responses to the myriad of questions that people all around the world (not just in the U.S.) might pose to an AI creation, whether that be Alexa, Siri or the algorithm your talent acquisition system uses to screen and weed out job applicants as in the case in the article regarding Amazon, you're only going to get the perspective of the predominant demographic no matter how fair they might try to be
Amazon, for instance, abandoned its own resume-scanning tool to recruit top talent after finding it favored men for technical
roles — in part because it was comparing job candidates against the company’s own male-dominated tech workforce.
In any case, it's a good read if you are intrigued by these types of things as I am, particularly since it explains what I attempting to explaining regarding the diverse cybersecurity task force, but this is even better because the EEOC is aware of the shortcomings of these systems already.
The head of the U.S. agency charged with enforcing civil rights in the workplace says artificial intelligence-driven “bossware” tools that closely track the whereabouts, keystrokes and productivity of workers can also run afoul of discrimination laws.
Charlotte Burrows, chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, told The Associated Press that the agency is trying to educate employers and technology providers about their use of these surveillance tools as well as AI tools that streamline the work of evaluating job prospects.
And if they aren’t careful with say, draconian schedule-monitoring algorithms that penalize breaks for pregnant women or Muslims taking time to pray, or allowing faulty software to screen out graduates of women’s or historically Black colleges – they can’t blame AI when the EEOC comes calling.
“I’m not shy about using our enforcement authority when it’s necessary,” Burrows said. “We want to work with employers, but there’s certainly no exemption to the civil rights laws because you engage in discrimination some high-tech way.”
