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Top headlines
Lead story
Bias in artificial intelligence algorithms has been in the news in recent years, particularly algorithms that are biased against women and people of color. Facial recognition algorithms have been especially unfair to Black women. But it’s not a new problem.
Computer scientist John MacCormick recalls creating a head-tracking algorithm 25 years ago when he was a Ph.D. student. When the time came to demo the algorithm, he had the shocking realization that it was racially biased.
As Big Tech rushes headlong into a new era of powerful AI systems, MacCormick sees the same mistakes cropping up again and again. It boils down to who is in the room, what gets prioritized and how hard it is to spot bias lurking in the numbers.
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Facial recognition software misidentifies Black women more than other people.
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John MacCormick, Dickinson College
One researcher’s experience from a quarter-century ago shows why bias in AI remains a problem – and why the solution isn’t a simple technical fix.
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Science + Technology
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John Katsaras, University of Tennessee; Charles Patrick Collier, University of Tennessee; Dima Bolmatov, University of Tennessee
Pinpointing where memories are stored in the brain and how they are transmitted could provide new targets to treat neurological diseases and serve as models for neuromorphic computing.
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Economy + Business
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Samantha N. N. Cross, Iowa State University; Stephanie Dellande, Menlo College; Sterling Bone, Utah State University
New research found that Black and Hispanic people tended to give banks a pass for poor customer service.
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Politics + Society
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Anne P. DePrince, University of Denver
Trump’s lawyers have questioned E. Jean Carroll, a magazine columnist, about why she did not scream or call the police after, she alleges, Trump raped her in the 1990s.
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Aaron Fichtelberg, University of Delaware
The International Criminal Court announced an arrest warrant for Putin and his children’s rights commissioner in March 2023, alleging the illegal abduction and deportation of Ukrainian children.
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Ethics + Religion
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Joel Christensen, Brandeis University
Greek epic poetry often uses mothers and wives to humanize its heroes, reminding listeners of the meaning of sacrifice.
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Arts + Culture
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Carly Drake, North Central College; Anuja Anil Pradhan, University of Southern Denmark
What does secondhand embarrassment say about your own anxieties and biases?
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Environment + Energy
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Hannes van der Watt, University of North Dakota
Hydrogen is getting a lot of attention as the EPA prepares to propose new greenhouse gas emissions rules for existing U.S. power plants.
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Health + Medicine
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Kyle B. Enfield, University of Virginia
There’s no one-size-fits-all approach for long COVID treatment, but exercise focusing on breathing and pacing yourself throughout the day often helps.
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