The Future of Code Politics Decolonial & Transfeminist Visions for Artificial Intelligence, Algorithms and Codes
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The Politics of Representation in the Climate Movement
The Politics of Representation in the Climate Movement Article by Alast Najafi July 17, 2020 For decades, the tireless work of activists around the world has advanced the climate agenda, raising public awareness and political ambition. Yet today, one Swedish activist’s fame is next to none. Alast Najafi examines how the “Greta effect” is symptomatic of structural racial bias which determines whose voices are heard loudest. Mainstreaming an intersectional approach in the climate movement and environmental policymaking is essential to challenge the exclusion of people of colour and its damaging consequences on communities across the globe. The story of Greta Thunberg is one of superlatives and surprises. In the first year after the schoolgirl with the signature blond braids emerged on the public radar, her fame rose to stratospheric heights. Known as the “Greta effect”, her steadfast activism has galvanised millions across the globe to take part in climate demonstrations demanding that governments do their part in stopping climate change. Since she started her school strike back in August 2018, Greta Thunberg has inspired numerous and extensive tributes. She has been called an idol and the icon the planet desperately needs. The Church of Sweden even went so far as to playfully name her the successor of Jesus Christ. These days, Greta Thunberg is being invited into the corridors of power, such as the United Nations and the World Economic Forum in Davos where global leaders and chief executives of international corporations listen to her important message. Toward the end of 2019, her media exposure culminated in a nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize and an extensively covered sail across the Atlantic with the aim of attending climate conferences in New York and Chile. -
Racial Diversity in the U.S. Climate Movement
Diversity and the Environment Webinar Series Presented by: Racial Diversity in the U.S. Climate Movement TUESDAY, MARCH 17, 2020 12:00 PM-1:00 PM ET Webinar Logistics Everyone should be connected via Audio Broadcast upon entering the webinar. You do not need to call in & you are automatically muted The presentation will be recorded and posted to the Antioch CCPCR web site within one week Please submit any questions you have for the presenter in the Q& A section If you are having trouble with any aspect of the broadcast, use the Chat section to message the Host directly Moderator Abi Abrash Walton, Ph.D. Faculty, Department of Environmental Studies Director, Master's Programs Director, Advocacy for Social Justice & Sustainability Master's Concentration, Co-Director, Center for Climate Preparedness & Community Resilience Director, Conservation Psychology Institute Antioch University New England Presenter Clara Fang Higher Education Outreach Coordinator Citizens’ Climate Lobby PhD Environmental Studies Antioch University Master of Environmental Management Yale University Racial Diversity in the U.S. Climate Movement Clara Fang Antioch University March 17, 2020 What we are going to cover Why and what How are we Building a just is diversity? doing? and inclusive climate movmeent 1 2 3 t Why diversity? Nature thrives on diversity POC Voters are Increasingly Determining Outcomes of Elections Image from: https://www.lwvcga.org/how-safe-are-georgias-elections/ A man puts his baby on top of his car as he and a woman abandon their car in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina in 2005. REUTERS/Rick Wilking People of color are usually the hardest hit from the effects of climate change. -
Climate Change
Issues in Contemporary Ethics: The Questions Climate Change ] At a Glance Climate Change In September 2019, a series of international strikes and protests for climate activism saw students from over 152 countries leave their classes to march in Is the international the streets and advocate for changes to worldwide policy regarding climate change. In covering these events, the media often focused on Greta Thunberg, community fully devoted to a Swedish teenage climate activist. This brief will examine how polarizing the issue of climate change can be, especially with regards to listening to voices fighting climate change? from the Global North versus the Global South. Who is the onus of reverting climate change on? (L-R): Vanessa Nakate; Who has the bigger role to Louisa Neubauer; Greta Thunberg; Isabelle play with regards to climate Axelsson; Loukina Tille at the World Economic change, individuals, Forum in Switzerland (BBC News, 2020). governments or corporations? The Global South and Climate Case Study: Vanessa Nakate accuses media of racism Change In January 2020, at a World Economic Forum event in Davos, Switzerland, climate changes activists Vanessa Nakate, Greta Thunberg, Isabelle Axelsson, How can the disproportionate Louisa Neubauer and Loukina Tille were photographed together by the American Press (AP). In distributing the photo, the media outlet cropped effects of climate change in Vanessa Nakate out of the picture while featuring everyone else. This led to a controversy when the Ugandan-born climate justice activist criticized the AP, the Global South be reversed? and other media outlets that had also reportedly removed her from the picture. In response to Nakate’s claims, the director of photography at AP, Do countries in the Global David Ake, claimed the photo had only been cropped due to composition reasons as the photographer thought the building in the background would South have a duty to pursue distracting (BBC News, 2020). -
Nicht Nur Greta Und Luisa: 12 Junge Klimaaktivisten, Die Jeder Kennen So
Nicht nur Greta und Luisa: 12 junge Klimaaktivisten, die jeder kennen so... https://www.focus.de/perspektiven/aktivismus-weltweit-nicht-nur-greta-... Drucken Aktivisten aus aller Welt Nicht nur Greta und Luisa: 12 junge Menschen, die lautstark für das Klima kämpfen Samstag, 28.09.2019, 12:23 · · von FOCUS-Online-Redakteurin Hanna Klein und FOCUS-Online-Redakteurin Uschi Jonas Startseite Teilen E-Mail Kommentare Mehr FOCUS Online/dpa/Twitter/Instagram/Children vs Climate Crisis FOCUS-Online-Redakteurin Hanna Klein FOCUS-Online-Redakteurin Uschi Jonas Samstag, 28.09.2019, 12:23 Wenn es um die junge Klimabewegung geht, fokussiert sich die öffentliche Diskussion schnell auf eine Person: die 16-jährige Greta Thunberg. In Deutschland kennen viele noch Luisa Neubauer als Kopf von "Fridays for Future" - aber es gibt noch viel mehr lautstarke Mitstreiter auf der ganzen Welt. FOCUS Online zeigt, wen Sie noch kennen sollten. 1. Alexandria Villasenor (14 Jahre) - USA Alexandria Villasenor ist im Norden Kaliforniens geboren. "Als ich die Verbindung zwischen den Waldbränden und dem Klimawandel verstanden hatte, wollte ich etwas tun", sagt die 14-Jährige. Im Dezember 2018 begann sie mit dem Schulstreik – als eine der ersten in den USA. Für sie seien Schulstreiks einer der besten Wege, um Druck auf Menschen in Machtpositionen auszuüben, sagte Villasenor in einem Interview mit " Mashable ". In den USA ist "Fridays for Future" noch nicht so verbreitet wie in vielen Ländern Europas. Villasenor glaubt, dass das vor allem an der fehlenden Bildung rund um das Thema Klimawandel liegt. "Hier in den USA wird Klimawandel als Meinung deklariert." Deshalb ist eines ihrer Ziele, dass alle in ihrer Heimat verstehen, dass die Klimakrise auf Wissenschaft und Fakten basiert. -
The Land of Many Waters Week of August 1 – August 7, 2021
The Stone Soup Leadership Institute's Story of the Week: Benita Davis The Land of Many Waters Week of August 1 – August 7, 2021 Sunday Post 1: Thrive Global: The Land of Many Waters #SundayThoughts: This week’s story on Arianna Huffington’s Thrive Global showcases Benita Davis from Guyana, a Policy Forum Guyana volunteer, who connects students, teachers, and local communities to work together through Sandwatch, an interdisciplinary environmental program that seeks to educates people of all ages about the inextricable connection between freshwater resources and life. Thrive Global Link: https://thriveglobal.com/stories/the-land-of-many- waters/ #StoneSoupLeaderFamily #StoneSoupYoungHeroes #EnvironmentalEducation #Freshwater #HealthyRivers #ClimateAction #ClimateCrisis #ClimateDiasters #TakeAction #YouthAction Sunday Post 2: Clarion Book Review #BookReview: Special thanks to Clarion Book Reviewer, Michelle Sharpe, for your praise of the book Stone Soup for a Sustainable World: Life- Changing Stories of Young Heroes available on Kindle amzn.to/32zwGXV and Bookshop bit.ly/StoneSoup-Bookshop. Stone Soup for a Sustainable World: Life-Changing Stories of Young Heroes features the stories of 100 leaders from 38 countries around the world, and 32 U.S. cities, who work to build a more just, equitable, and sustainable world. Link: bit.ly/StoneSoup-ClarionReview #StoneSoupLeaderFamily #StoneSoupYoungHeroes #BookReview #EnvironmentalEducation #SustainableWorld #ClimateAction #YouthStories Monday Post 1: Quote: Benita Davis #MondayMotivation: As an -
AI Principles 2020 Progress Update
AI Principles 2020 Progress update AI Principles 2020 Progress update Table of contents Overview ........................................................................................................................................... 2 Culture, education, and participation ....................................................................4 Technical progress ................................................................................................................... 5 Internal processes ..................................................................................................................... 8 Community outreach and exchange .....................................................................12 Conclusion .....................................................................................................................................17 Appendix: Research publications and tools ....................................................18 Endnotes .........................................................................................................................................20 1 AI Principles 2020 Progress update Overview Google’s AI Principles were published in June 2018 as a charter to guide how we develop AI responsibly and the types of applications we will pursue. This report highlights recent progress in AI Principles implementation across Google, including technical tools, educational programs and governance processes. Of particular note in 2020, the AI Principles have supported our ongoing work to address -
A Feminist Critique of Algorithmic Fairness
Redistribution and Rekognition: A Feminist Critique of Algorithmic Fairness Sarah Myers West AI Now Institute at New York University [email protected] Abstract Computer scientists, and artificial intelligence researchers in particular, have a predisposition for adopting precise, fixed definitions to serve as classifiers (Agre, 1997; Broussard, 2018). But classification is an enactment of power; it orders human interaction in ways that produce advantage and suffering (Bowker & Star, 1999). In so doing, it attempts to create order out of the messiness of human life, masking the work of the people involved in training machine learning systems, and hiding the uneven distribution of its impacts on communities (A. Taylor, 2018; Gray, 2019; Roberts, 2019). Feminist scholars, and particularly feminist scholars of color, have made powerful critiques of the ways in which artificial intelligence systems formalize, classify, and amplify historical forms of discrimination and act to reify and amplify existing forms of social inequality (Eubanks, 2017; Benjamin, 2019; Noble, 2018). In response, the machine learning community has begun to address claims of algorithmic bias under the rubric of fairness, accountability, and transparency. But it has dealt with these claims largely using computational approaches that obscure difference. Inequality is reflected and amplified in algorithmic systems in ways that exceed the capacity of statistical methods alone. This article examines how patterns of exclusion and erasure in algorithmic systems recapitulate and magnify a history of discrimination and erasure in the field of artificial intelligence, and in society more broadly. Shifting from individualized notions of fairness to more situated modeling of algorithmic remediation might create spaces of possibility for new forms of solidarity and West, Sarah Myers (2020). -
Wanda Muñoz Autonomous Weapons
Autonomous weapons systems: an analysis from human rights, humanitarian and ethical artificial intelligence perspectives This paper is based on Wanda Muñoz’ intervention at the briefing for diplomats on “The Normative and Operational Framework on Autonomous Weapon Systems” held on 28/05/2021. Today I will share with you two angles of analysis on the issue of autonomous weapons. Firstly, I will share some perspectives of human rights activists and humanitarian workers. Secondly, I will talk about how the discussion on autonomous weapons could be informed by international discussions on ethical approaches to artificial intelligence (AI). A/ Humanitarian and Human Rights Concerns The topic of autonomous weapons should not be seen only as a military and diplomatic issue, because it is much more than that; it is also a social and humanitarian issue. Unfortunately, what we see in the world today is that thousands of civilians have to deal with the consequences of violence and weapons daily, and that humanitarian organizations are at the forefront of the response. From this perspective, I would like to highlight four key reasons why autonomous weapon should be banned. 1. Human dignity. We believe that no one ever should face any risk of harm or death by autonomous weapons, because this would go against human dignity. This has already been said but we will keep insisting on it until autonomous weapons that target humans are banned. What message do you think we would send to those populations where autonomous weapons would be deployed? In my view, we would be telling them: “To us, your value as a human being is so little, that we don’t care about the risks, and even a machine can do the job of killing you”. -
Mx. Joy Buolamwini, Founder, Algorithmic Justice League
United States House Committee on Science, Space and Technology June 26, 2019 Hearing on Artificial Intelligence: Societal and Ethical Implications Written Testimony of Joy Buolamwini Founder, Algorithmic Justice League Masters in Media Arts and Sciences, 2017, Massachusetts Institute of Technology MSc Education (Learning & Technology), 2014, Distinction, University of Oxford BS Computer Science, 2012, Highest Honors, Georgia Institute of Technology PhD Pending, MIT Media Lab Made Possible By Critical Input from Dr. Sasha Costanza-Chock Injoluwa Deborah Raji For additional information, please contact Joy Buolamwini at [email protected] Dear Chairwoman Johnson, Ranking Member Lucas, and Members of the Committee, Thank you for the opportunity to testify on the societal and ethical implications of artificial intelligence (AI). My name is Joy Buolamwini, and I am the founder of the Algorithmic Justice League (AJL), based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. I established AJL to create a world with more ethical and inclusive technology after experiencing facial analysis software failing to detect my dark-skinned face until I put on a white mask. I’ve shared this experience of algorithmic bias in op-eds for Time Magazine and the New York Times as well as a TED featured talk with over 1 million views.1 My MIT thesis and subsequent research studies uncovered substantial skin type and gender bias in AI services from companies like Microsoft, IBM, and Amazon.2 This research has been covered in over 40 countries and has been featured in the mainstream media including FOX News, MSNBC, CNN, PBS, Bloomberg, Fortune, BBC, and even the Daily Show with Trevor Noah.3 Figure 1. -
Davos Ends with Disagreement on Climate and Greta Thunberg on the March
Davos ends with disagreement on climate and Greta Thunberg on the march By Julia Horowitz and Hadas Gold, CNN Business Updated 2005 GMT (0405 HKT) January 24, 2020 Davos, Switzerland (CNN Business) The annual meeting of business and political leaders in Davos wrapped up Friday with two of the world's most powerful people disagreeing over how to address the climate crisis and youth activists excoriating the international elite for not doing enough to prevent global warming. After a week of discussions at the World Economic Forum that were dominated by how to tackle the biggest problem the planet faces, the last big event of the conference produced a tense exchange between US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Christine Lagarde, the president of the European Central Bank. Mnuchin, who earlier this week questioned the credentials of climate activist Greta Thunberg, told panelists that long-term planning is futile when it comes to analyzing and containing climate change. Lagarde disagreed. It was crucial to assess the risk that climate change poses to financial markets and the economy, she said, so it can be "anticipated, measured" and "hopefully mitigated." Mnuchin rushed to respond. "Christine, I think you can have a lot of people look at this and model it," he said. "I just don't want to kid ourselves. I think there's no way we can possibly model what these risks are over the next 30 years with a level of certainty." The exchange highlighted the continuing divide between the United States and Europe over the climate crisis despite powerful calls for radical action from Prince Charles, among others. -
Gretathunberg: Navigating Critique and Identity Within Youth Climate Activism on Twitter
University of Denver Digital Commons @ DU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Graduate Studies 2020 @GretaThunberg: Navigating Critique and Identity Within Youth Climate Activism on Twitter Carina Robin Weadock Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.du.edu/etd Part of the Social Influence and oliticalP Communication Commons, Social Media Commons, and the Speech and Rhetorical Studies Commons @GretaThunberg: Navigating Critique and Identity within Youth Climate Activism on Twitter ______________ A Thesis Presented to the Faculty of the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences University of Denver ____________ In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts ____________ by Carina Weadock June 2020 Advisor: Dr. Christina Foust ©Copyright by Carina Weadock 2020 All Rights Reserved Author: Carina Weadock Title: @GretaThunberg: Navigating Critique and Identity within Youth Climate Activism on Twitter Advisor: Dr. Christina Foust Degree Date: June 2020 Abstract Youth climate activist Greta Thunberg sat alone on the steps of the Swedish Parliament building in September of 2018, holding a bold black and white sign and demanding action be taken in the face of the climate crisis. Ever since, her activism and Twitter presence have sparked media attention, catalyzed youth activists globally to organize marches and strike from school, and have drawn critique. This thesis employs McKerrow’s (1989) critical rhetoric to uncover dominant discourses within tweets that undermine Thunberg based on identity and to explore the potential that Thunberg’s Twitter presence might or might not hold for future youth activist response to similar critique. I highlight implications of Thunberg’s Twitter presence on her own and other youth activist’s agency and on the collective identity of Fridays for Future, as well as pose questions that Thunberg’s Twitter presence raises for the potential of a more intersectional, networked youth climate movement. -
Mitigating Dataset Harms Requires Stewardship: Lessons from 1000 Papers
Mitigating dataset harms requires stewardship: Lessons from 1000 papers Kenny Peng, Arunesh Mathur, Arvind Narayanan Princeton University Draft: August 9, 2021 Abstract Concerns about privacy, bias, and harmful applications have shone a light on the ethics of machine learning datasets, even leading to the retraction of prominent datasets including DukeMTMC, MS-Celeb-1M, TinyImages, and VGGFace2. In response, the machine learning community has called for higher ethical standards, transparency efforts, and technical fixes in the dataset creation process. The premise of our work is that these efforts can be more effective if informed by an understanding of how datasets are used in practice in the research community. We study three influential face and person recognition datasets—DukeMTMC, MS-Celeb-1M, and Labeled Faces in the Wild (LFW)—by analyzing nearly 1000 papers that cite them. We found that the creation of derivative datasets and models, broader technological and social change, the lack of clarity of licenses, and dataset management practices can introduce a wide range of ethical concerns. We conclude by suggesting a distributed approach that can mitigate these harms, making recommendations to dataset creators, conference program committees, dataset users, and the broader research community. 1 Introduction Datasets play an essential role in machine learning research, but are also the source of ethical concerns. These include concerns about the privacy of individuals included in datasets [36, 62], representational harms introduced by annotations [20, 35], effects of biases in datasets on downstream use [16, 17, 15], and the use of datasets for ethically dubious purposes [36, 67, 59]. These concerns have led to the retractions of several prominent research datasets including Tiny Images, VGGFace2, DukeMTMC, and MS-Celeb-1M.