Unmasking AI

My Mission to Protect What Is Human in a World of Machines

De: Joy Buolamwini

Narrado por: Joy Buolamwini

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • “The conscience of the AI revolution” (Fortune) explains how we’ve arrived at an era of AI harms and oppression, and what we can do to avoid its pitfalls.

“AI is not coming, it’s here. If we answer the beautiful call inside these pages, we can decide who we are going to be and how we’re going to use technology in service of what it means to be fully human.”—Brené Brown, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Dare to Lead

A LOS ANGELES TIMES BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR • Shortlisted for the Inc. Non-Obvious Book Award

To most of us, it seems like recent developments in artificial intelligence emerged out of nowhere to pose unprecedented threats to humankind. But to Dr. Joy Buolamwini, who has been at the forefront of AI research, this moment has been a long time in the making.

After tinkering with robotics as a high school student in Memphis and then developing mobile apps in Zambia as a Fulbright fellow, Buolamwini followed her lifelong passion for computer science, engineering, and art to MIT in 2015. As a graduate student at the “Future Factory,” she did groundbreaking research that exposed widespread racial and gender bias in AI services from tech giants across the world.

Unmasking AI goes beyond the headlines about existential risks produced by Big Tech. It is the remarkable story of how Buolamwini uncovered what she calls “the coded gaze”—the evidence of encoded discrimination and exclusion in tech products—and how she galvanized the movement to prevent AI harms by founding the Algorithmic Justice League. Applying an intersectional lens to both the tech industry and the research sector, she shows how racism, sexism, colorism, and ableism can overlap and render broad swaths of humanity “excoded” and therefore vulnerable in a world rapidly adopting AI tools. Computers, she reminds us, are reflections of both the aspirations and the limitations of the people who create them.

Encouraging experts and non-experts alike to join this fight, Buolamwini writes, “The rising frontier for civil rights will require algorithmic justice. AI should be for the people and by the people, not just the privileged few.”

©2023 Joy Buolamwini (P)2023 Random House Audio

Reseñas de la Crítica

“This revelatory book exposes the myriad, deeply ingrained biases encoded into facial recognition and other ‘trusted’ AI systems, pushing us to confront our blind trust in the machines that are taking over our lives. In describing how she conquered her own demons along her path towards justice for all, Dr. Joy Buolamwini offers a deeply felt, stirring call to action for ethical AI—a must-read for those who want a world in which technology serves humanity.”—Maria Ressa, Nobel Peace Prize winner, CEO and president of Rappler

“In a world plagued by AI harms and threats to our civil rights, Dr. Joy Buolamwini has been an essential figure in bringing irresponsible, profit-hungry tech giants to their knees. Unmasking AI is an inspiring story about her journey from precocious student to groundbreaking pioneer in a field where women like herself are often rendered invisible. If you’re going to read only one book about AI, this should be it.”—Darren Walker, president of the Ford Foundation

“Joy Buolamwini is a unique and powerful intellectual force, and this book explains why. We are honored to follow her on each step of her journey from an earnest and diligent grad student to an outspoken and celebrated role model for algorithmic justice, rooting for her and likewise for our combined future.”—Cathy O’Neil, author of Weapons of Math Destruction

It’s time we boundary AI

An important topic, we must pay closer attention to how and why it’s actually used. Asking is it helping or hindering us? This country needs no more opportunities for division or racism.
We also need to protect what is human.

Eye Opening

I enjoyed this book. It opened my eyes to the world of AI and how equity and inclusion need to be a part of its development and use.

Outstanding!

Doctor Joy provides deep insights into a data world that affects all of our lives.

Excellent communicator with serious technical knowledge

I always like when authors narrate their own books because you can hear their tone, their feelings through their own spoken word. This was a fantastic book, providing me the vocabulary to talk more about the harms of AI.

Eye Opening report

The mix of personal story with academic goals, artistic approaches, technology details and activism woke me up!

Technical Masterpiece

This book is a vital study of how technology intersects with race in American society & if AI can be racially biased.

This book helped me push forward each day

I truly enjoyed reading Dr. Buolamwini’s journey. As a Black female scientist, I am confronted each day with so many obstacles. Listening to how, despite adversity, Dr. Joy continued on and found allyship along the way. It keeps me hopeful.

What a beautiful storyteller!

I first picked up this book thinking I would learn something about the current state of AI. But Dr Joy delivered beyond that. To go through all this challenging stuff while working on PhD and bro able to tell this story is next level strength! 🙌🏽

Compelling case for Responsible AI interwoven in a real life story

An autobiography of Dr. Buolomwini that elegantly makes the case for Responsible AI and inclusive AI. This read was eye opening, insightful, educational , provocative and enjoyable. It should be integrated into every university’s AI 101!

In-depth Clarity and Insights

In-depth Insights that anyone can comprehend. Passion, commitment, and care are clearly evident. Humanity, compassion, empathy and personal frailties buttress impeccable technical knowledge and experience. Inspirational and guidance for all. Sankofa 🖤