Social justice is concerned with the overall balance of opportunities, benefit and power within society. It is hard to define precisely, but is broadly about equity, fairness and empowerment, especially protecting the weak or disadvantaged. There are some clear issues such as explicit racial or gender discrimination, or the existence of poverty amongst plenty in many societies. However, there are also more subtle influences that can lead to unfair outcomes for different groups or perpetuation of disadvantages. AI can exacerbate both the more and less obvious forms of social injustice, but can also be an opportunity to expose, challenge or redress inequity.
This course looks at the influence of AI on social justice using two lenses. First using an approach developed during the UK EPSRC funded Not Equal project a few years ago to look at digital technology more generally, which considers three main areas: avoiding harm, doing it right and taking positive action, all dependent on access to technology and broader issues of governance. The second distinguishes ‘what it does’ the direct use of AI and its ethical and social implications vs the way AI potentially changes the very nature of society, even for those not using AI.
The course includes cases studies, concrete examples, and opportunities for discussion. It also includes a deep dive into issues of AI bias and explainable AI.
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AI for Social Justice
Artificial Intelligence: humans at the heart of algorithms