Bias or discrimination on the basis of gender in the tech workplace and in technologies created (video games, voice assistants, etc.)
Gender Bias (11)
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- 7 min
- Vice
- 2019
Programmer creates an application that uses neural networks to remove clothing from the images of women. Deepfake technology being used against women systematically, despite continued narrative that its use in the political realm is the most pressing issue.
- Vice
- 2019
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- 7 min
- Vice
- 2019
This Horrifying App Undresses a Photo of Any Woman With a Single Click
Programmer creates an application that uses neural networks to remove clothing from the images of women. Deepfake technology being used against women systematically, despite continued narrative that its use in the political realm is the most pressing issue.
Discussion Prompts:
How does technology enhance violation of sexual privacy? Who should regulate this technology, and how?
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- 5 min
- Wired
- 2015
Often, gender bias is consciously or subconsciously embedded into the performance of virtual voice assistants, without considering some science surrounding linguistics or gender.
- Wired
- 2015
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- 5 min
- Wired
- 2015
Siri and Cortana Sound Like Ladies Because of Sexism
Often, gender bias is consciously or subconsciously embedded into the performance of virtual voice assistants, without considering some science surrounding linguistics or gender.
Discussion Prompts:
What are the consequences of not addressing such gender bias as virtual voice assistants become more and more “human”? How has the profit motive played a role in this type of gender bias?
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- 5 min
- Loeb Classical Library, Harvard University Press
- 1916
A brief excerpt on Pygmalion’s love for his “marble maiden,” which could be compared to the human creation of robots for companionship use.
- Loeb Classical Library, Harvard University Press
- 1916
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Pygmalion and his Ivory Maid: Ovid’s Metamorphoses, Book X, lines 243-297.
A brief excerpt on Pygmalion’s love for his “marble maiden,” which could be compared to the human creation of robots for companionship use.
Discussion Prompts:
How does Pygmalion’s love for his “marble maiden” resemble the relationship some people have with advanced AI dolls or sex dolls? Can advanced AI dolls replace human companionship completely, or is there something inherently unique to our interactions? Venus gives life to Pygmalion’s maiden, so she could be argued to have a soul, but when humans give ‘life’ to advanced AI, is that similar or different to Pygmalion’s maiden? What does it mean to have consciousness if you can act and perform like a human in all capacities?
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- 12 min
- Kinolab
- 2011
In this episode, Bing Madsen is one of many citizens who provide power to the digital world through spending each day on a stationery bike, which earns him “merits” to spend on both leisure activities and necessities. These laborers, along with all other classes, are constantly surrounded by screens in which their digital avatars can participate in virtual activities like biking on a road or being in a “live” studio audience. The reality competition show “Hot Shot” is one program streamed on these screens. In this narrative, Bing’s friend Abi auditions for the show as a singer, but is instead coerced by the mass audience into signing as a pornstar for one of the judge’s companies.
- Kinolab
- 2011
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- 12 min
- Kinolab
- 2011
Digital Media and the Commodification of Women’s Bodies
In this episode, Bing Madsen is one of many citizens who provide power to the digital world through spending each day on a stationery bike, which earns him “merits” to spend on both leisure activities and necessities. These laborers, along with all other classes, are constantly surrounded by screens in which their digital avatars can participate in virtual activities like biking on a road or being in a “live” studio audience. The reality competition show “Hot Shot” is one program streamed on these screens. In this narrative, Bing’s friend Abi auditions for the show as a singer, but is instead coerced by the mass audience into signing as a pornstar for one of the judge’s companies.
Discussion Prompts:
In what ways have digital technologies made sexual harassment worse, and how can this be solved? How does being digitally separated from others make people less empathetic and push them to engage in mob mentality? How do digital technologies like social networks sometimes deprive people of autonomy over their bodies? How can users of digital technologies ensure that any sexually explicit content they produce remains in their ownership and control? What problems arise from the pornography industry experiencing such growth in the digital age?
Black Mirror : Bing Wakes Up-
- 9 min
- Kinolab
- 2017
Robert Daly is a programmer at the company Callister, which developed the immersive virtual reality game Infinity and its community for the entertainment of users. Daly is typically seen in the shadow of the co-founder of the company, the charismatic James Walton. Unbeknownst to anyone else, Daly possesses a personal modification of the Infinity game program, where he is able to upload sentient digital clones of his co-workers to take out his frustrations upon. In this narrative, Nannette Cole becomes his newest victim after her DNA is used to draw her into the virtual reality. After Daly’s sexist and violent treatment of her and the other crewmates, Nannette inspires a mutiny to escape Daly’s world. In order to help the team carry out the plan, she seduces Daly as a distraction.
- Kinolab
- 2017
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- 9 min
- Kinolab
- 2017
Virtual Vindictiveness and Simulated Clones Part II: Daly and Cole
Robert Daly is a programmer at the company Callister, which developed the immersive virtual reality game Infinity and its community for the entertainment of users. Daly is typically seen in the shadow of the co-founder of the company, the charismatic James Walton. Unbeknownst to anyone else, Daly possesses a personal modification of the Infinity game program, where he is able to upload sentient digital clones of his co-workers to take out his frustrations upon. In this narrative, Nannette Cole becomes his newest victim after her DNA is used to draw her into the virtual reality. After Daly’s sexist and violent treatment of her and the other crewmates, Nannette inspires a mutiny to escape Daly’s world. In order to help the team carry out the plan, she seduces Daly as a distraction.
Discussion Prompts:
What should the ethical boundaries be in terms of creating digital copies of real-life people to manipulate in virtual realities? How would this alter the perception of autonomy or entitlement? Should the capability to create exact digital likenesses of real people be created for any reason? If so, how should their autonomy be ensured, since they are technically a piece of programming? How can bias, and more specifically the objectification of women, be eliminated in such conceptualisations? Are digital copies of a person entitled to the same rights that their corporeal selves have?
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- 13 min
- Kinolab
- 2016
“Hidden Figures” chronicles the journeys of Katherine Johnson (Taraji P. Henson), Dorothy Vaughan (Octavia Spencer), and Mary Jackson (Janelle Monáe), three black women who worked on the space missions at the Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia in 1961. All three women persist against segregation and abject racism as they climb the ladder and make important contributions to the space mission. While Katherine becomes the first black woman on Al Harrison’s Space Task Group, Mary Jackson pursues her dream of becoming an engineer at NASA by petitioning to take courses at an all white school, and Dorothy Vaughan attempts to learn the programming language Fortran in order to ensure that herself and fellow human computers are not replaced by the newest IBM 7090 computer.
- Kinolab
- 2016
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- 13 min
- Kinolab
- 2016
Hidden Figures Part I: Goals of Equity and Women of Color in the Workplace
“Hidden Figures” chronicles the journeys of Katherine Johnson (Taraji P. Henson), Dorothy Vaughan (Octavia Spencer), and Mary Jackson (Janelle Monáe), three black women who worked on the space missions at the Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia in 1961. All three women persist against segregation and abject racism as they climb the ladder and make important contributions to the space mission. While Katherine becomes the first black woman on Al Harrison’s Space Task Group, Mary Jackson pursues her dream of becoming an engineer at NASA by petitioning to take courses at an all white school, and Dorothy Vaughan attempts to learn the programming language Fortran in order to ensure that herself and fellow human computers are not replaced by the newest IBM 7090 computer.
Discussion Prompts:
How is the history of the oppression of Black people in America responsible for a lack of diversity in workplaces, including those involving science and technology in the present? What do technology companies in the current day need to consider in order to ensure that their workforce is diverse and equitable? What does the specific case of Dorothy being initially denied access to the Fortran book reveal about the past and present accessibility of minority groups to fluency in digital technologies? What needs to happen inside of and outside of the technology industry to ensure better opportunities for women of color in technology-focused workplaces?