SXSW 2025
Digital Jim Crow: Resisting AI Segregation & Discrimination
Description:
AI is infiltrating every arena of life – education, housing, employment, healthcare, and more. It’s cheaper than human services, but accessibility and value come with AI’s propensity for replicating discriminatory human behaviors it’s trained on. The onslaught of bots and algorithms also turns life-altering interactions with real therapists or loan officers into premium commodities — out of reach for low-income individuals, overwhelmingly people of color.
AI has the potential to isolate and dehumanize our most vulnerable populations. We must stop what’s turning into a digital Jim Crow.
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Takeaways
- Sound the alarm on the digital implementation of “separate but equal” in a society already beset by extreme wealth gaps
- We must better understand and curb AI’s capacity for discrimination and serious harm before even more shoddy and dangerous products go to market
- Modify consumer protection policy and industry standards for AI services with regard to racial equity
Speakers
- Sydette Harry, Research Fellow, USC Annenberg Innovation Lab
- Tawana Petty, Just Tech Fellow, Social Science Research Council
- Romi Rom Morrison, Assistant Professor, UCLA
- Jamil Smith, Editor-in-Chief, The Emancipator
Organizer
Cristal Balis, Special Projects & Marketing Lead, The Emancipator
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