International Studies Journal (ISJ)

International Studies Journal (ISJ)

Racist Artificial Intelligence: Where does it come from?

Document Type : Original Article from Result of Research Project

Author
Arshin Adib-Moghaddam
Professor in Global Thought and Comparative Philosophies at School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), Department of Politics and International Studies, University of London
10.22034/isj.2023.182419
Abstract
How did racism creep into the algorithms that govern our daily lives, from banking and shopping, to job applications? Connecting the legacy of enlightenment racism to forms of discrimination in modern day algorithms and Artificial Intelligence, this article examines what data feeds into AI technology - and how this data will shape our future, in terms of both social relations and politics.
Keywords
Artificial Intelligence
Racism
Algorithms
Philosophy
Ethics
Bad AI
  1. Adib-Moghaddam, A. (2021). What is Iran? Domestic Politics and International Relations in Five Musical Pieces, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  2. Adib-Moghaddam, A. (2023). Is Artificial Intelligence Racist? AI and the future of Humanity, New York: Bloomsbury.
  3. Allen, J. (2021). Inside the Global Race to Build Killer Robot Armies. The Federalist, Available at: https://thefederalist.com/2021/03/26/inside-the-global-race-to-build-killer-robot-armies/
  4. Arendt, H. (1958). The Origins of Totalitarianism, Ohio: World Publishing Co.
  5. Bodde, D. (200), Chinese Ideas in the West. Committee on Asiatic Studies in American Education, pp. 1-11. Available at: http://projects.mcah.columbia.edu/nanxuntu/html/state/ideas.pdf
  6. Hagenbeck, C. (1912). Beasts and Men: Being Carl Hagenbeck’s Experiences for Half a Century Among Wild Animals, Hugh S. R. Elliot and A. G. Thacker (abridged trans.), London: Longmans Green, and Co.
  7. Hobson, J. (2004). The Eastern Origins of Western Civilisation, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  8. Jeannerod, B. (2020). Body Cameras Alone Won’t Stop Discriminatory Policing in France. Human Rights Watch, 17th July, Available at: https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/07/17/body-cameras-alone-wont-stop-discriminatory-policing-france
  9. Mahdawi, A. (2021). This AI-powered app will tell you if you're beautiful – and reinforce biases, too. The Guardian, 6th March, Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/mar/06/ai-powered-app-tell-you-beautiful-reinforce-biases
  10. Millar, I. (2021). The Psychoanalysis of Artificial Intelligence, London: Palgrave.
  11. Mohamed, S. (2020). Marie-Therese Png, William Isaac, ‘Decolonial AI: Decolonial Theory as Sociotechnical Foresight in Artificial Intelligence’, Philosophy and Technology, Vol. 33, 659-684.
  12. Noble, S.U. (2018). Algorithms of Oppression: How Search Engines Reinforce Racism, New York: New York University Press.
  13. Rothfels, N. (2022). Savages and Beasts: The Birth of the Modern Zoo, Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press.
  14. Said, E. (1978). Orientalism, London: Penguin.
  15. Sykes, M. (1904). Dar-Ul-Islam: A Record of a Journey Through Ten of the Asiatic Provinces of Turkey, London: Bickers & Son.
  16. The Guardian (2020). TikTok 'tried to filter out videos from ugly, poor or disabled users. 17th March, Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/mar/17/tiktok-tried-to-filter-out-videos-from-ugly-poor-or-disabled-users
  17. The New York Times (1913). 20 Apr., Available at: http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9901EFD81139E633A25753C2A9629C946296D6CF
  18. The South China Morning Post (2019). How Snapchat dysmorphia drives teens to plastic surgery to copy looks phone camera filters give them. 17th Available at: https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-beauty/article/3014543/how-snapchat-dysmorphia-drives-teens-plastic-surgery-copy
  19. Van der Veer, P. (2001). Imperial Encounters: Religion and Modernity in India and Britain, Princeton: Princeton University Press.