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Dr. Patricia Bath Could Be First Black Woman Inducted Into the National Inventors Hall of Fame

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Dr. Patricia Bath Could Be First Black Woman Inducted Into the National Inventors Hall of Fame Chattanooga News Chronicle - March 11, 2021 Page 2 Chattanooga News Chronicle - March 11, 2021 COMMENTARY / CULTURE and vote, and walked alongside with me Hakeem will work with me to collectively Thank you to the as I canvassed the neighborhoods. It was address the needs and seek solutions to all of these experiences that we shared to- continue to elevate our community-at- voters of District 9 gether which solidifies even further to me large. why District 9 is a great community for Our work isn’t done yet my friends. of Chattanooga! everyone. I sincerely thank you. Our city is in a run-off for Mayor. Lo- I would like to acknowledge Kelvin cal elections matter and every vote does Dear Friends and Supporters, Scott for his passion to see our community count. I want to encourage each of you to flourish. I thank him for participating in return to the polls and cast your vote again I am both humbled and honored that the democratic process and hope that he for Chattanooga’s next Mayor. you have placed your confidence and sup- will continue to stay engaged alongside Again, I THANK YOU ALL and I’m port in me once again to represent you as me to strengthen our neighborhoods block excited to work with you to continue to your Councilwoman for District 9. by block. see District 9 grow and thrive! I extend my heartfelt gratitude to all It is my hope as we, as a community, that volunteered their time and energy to move forward together for another four Sincerely, place signs on your lawns, hosted com- years, that our other prominent communi- Councilwoman Coonrod munity-led meet &greet opportunities, re- ty leaders, Mr. Moreland, Representative minded you family and friends to get out JoAnne Favors, and Representative Yusuf Writing and, later, the printing and other proxies for the likelihood of years as part of the Artificial Intelli- AI is killing choice press made it possible to carefully re- repayment. It’s being used to detect gence and Experience project at UMass cord history and easily disseminate fraudulent commercial transactions Boston’s Applied Ethics Center. and chance – knowledge, but it eliminated centu- and identify malignant tumors. It’s Losing the ability to choose ries-old traditions of oral storytelling. being used for hiring and firing deci- Aristotle argued that the capac- which means Ubiquitous digital and phone cameras sions in large chain stores and public ity for making practical judgments de- have changed how people experience school districts. And it’s being used in pends on regularly making them – on changing what and perceive events. Widely available law enforcement – from assessing the habit and practice. We see the emer- GPS systems have meant that drivers chances of recidivism, to police force gence of machines as substitute judges it means to be rarely get lost, but a reliance on them allocation, to the facial identification of in a variety of workaday contexts as a has also atrophied their native capacity criminal suspects. potential threat to people learning how human to orient themselves. Many of these applications pres- to effectively exercise judgment them- AI is no different. While the term ent relatively obvious risks. If the al- selves. By Nir Eisikovits AI conjures up anxieties about killer gorithms used for loan approval, facial In the workplace, managers rou- Associate Professor of Philosophy and robots, unemployment or a massive recognition and hiring are trained on tinely make decisions about whom to Director, Applied Ethics Center, surveillance state, there are other, biased data, thereby building biased hire or fire, which loan to approve and University of Massachusetts Boston deeper implications. As AI increas- models, they tend to perpetuate exist- where to send police officers, to name a ingly shapes the human experience, ing prejudices and inequalities. But re- few. These are areas where algorithmic The history of humans’ use of how does this change what it means searchers believe that cleaned-up data prescription is replacing human judg- technology has always been a history to be human? Central to the problem and more rigorous modeling would ment, and so people who might have of coevolution. Philosophers from is a person’s capacity to make choices, reduce and potentially eliminate algo- had the chance to develop practical Rousseau to Heidegger to Carl Schmitt particularly judgments that have moral rithmic bias. It’s even possible that AI judgment in these areas no longer will. have argued that technology is never a implications. could make predictions that are fairer Recommendation engines, which neutral tool for achieving human ends. Taking over our lives? and less biased than those made by hu- are increasingly prevalent intermediar- Technological innovations – from the AI is being used for wide and mans. ies in people’s consumption of culture, most rudimentary to the most sophis- rapidly expanding purposes. It is be- Where algorithmic bias is a tech- may serve to constrain choice and min- ticated – reshape people as they use ing used to predict which television nical issue that can be solved, at least imize serendipity. By presenting con- these innovations to control their en- shows or movies individuals will want in theory, the question of how AI alters sumers with algorithmically curated vironment. Artificial intelligence is a to watch based on past preferences and the abilities that define human beings choices of what to watch, read, stream new and powerful tool, and it, too, is to make decisions about who can bor- is more fundamental. We have been altering humanity. row money based on past performance studying this question for the last few continued on page 10 THIS WEEk IN AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY World-Renowned Ophthalmologist Dr. Patricia Bath Could Be First Black Woman Inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame Dr. Bath was the Dr. Bath became the first Black first Black female woman to receive a medical pat- doctor to receive a ent [U.S. Patent No. 4,744,360]. medical patent Her illustrious career included be- ing awarded five U.S. patents. Her method has helped eye Los Angeles, CA — Dr. Patri- surgeons restore or improve vision tors Hall of Fame, an entity that “Being inducted into the National cia Era Bath lived a life without for millions of patients worldwide. recognizes the enduring legacies Inventors Hall of Fame would be limits. She was the first Black Of the twenty million cataract of exceptional U.S. patent hold- an amazing honor.” American to complete an ophthal- surgeries performed worldwide ers. If admitted, she would be She was the first to docu- mology residency at New York annually, Dr. Bath’s Laserphaco the only Black woman out of 603 ment that Blacks suffered blind- University (1973), the first Black technique is used in one million inventors. In honor of Black His- ness disproportionately to other American Woman appointed to of them. Her Laserphaco meth- tory Month, the National Inven- racial groups, and in 1976 she UCLA Medical Center’s surgical odology has been used in Western tors Hall of Fame (NIHF) encour- co-founded the American Insti- staff (1975), and the first woman Europe, Japan, China, India, and ages the public to nominate an tute for Prevention of Blindness to lead a post-graduate training Latin America since 2000. Today, African-American inventor for to address vision inequities. As program in Ophthalmology. And the Laserphaco method is semi- consideration in their Class of In- an outspoken champion of un- she was just getting started. automated by computers, soft- ductees. Click here to nominate derserved populations affected by In 1986, she invented the La- ware, and robotics. It now uses a Dr. Patricia Bath. inadequate healthcare access, she serphaco Probe for cataract treat- faster femtosecond laser and was “My mother’s invention is as coined the concept of “commu- ment, one of the most important finally approved by the U.S. Food significant to the laser cataract nity ophthalmology” to address surgical tools in the history of and Drug Administration in 2011. surgery industry as Bell’s tele- preventable blindness through ophthalmology, where she used Dr. Bath (1942-2019) was a phone is to the telecommunica- education, public health outreach, the Excimer Laser to develop a trailblazing physician who has tions industry and Edison’s light and local medical services. device and method for minimally been nominated 11 times to be bulb is to the electric lighting invasive cataract surgery. In 1988, inducted into the National Inven- industry,” Dr. Eraka Bath stated. .
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    Patricia Bath (1942–2019) Patricia Bath was the first African American to complete a residency in ophthalmology in 1973. Two years later, she became the first female faculty member in the Department of Ophthalmol- ogy at UCLA’s Jules Stein Eye Institute. In 1976, Bath co-founded the American Institute for the Prevention of Blindness, which established that “eyesight is a basic human right.” In 1986, Bath invented the Laserphaco Probe, improving treatment for cataract patients. She patented the device in 1988, becoming the first African American female doctor to receive a medical patent. Patricia Era Bath was born on November 4, 1942, in New York City’s Harlem neighborhood to Rupert Bath, the first Black motorman for the New York City subway system, and Gladys Bath, a housewife and domestic worker who used her salary to save money for her children’s education. Bath was encouraged by her family to pursue academic interests. Her father, a former Merchant Marine and an occasional newspaper columnist, taught Bath about the wonders of travel and the value of exploring new cultures. Her mother piqued the young girl’s interest in science by buying her a chemistry set. As a result, Bath worked hard on her intellectual pursuits and, at the age of 16, became one of only a few students to attend a cancer research workshop sponsored by the National Science Foundation. The program head, Dr. Robert Bernard, was so impressed with Bath’s discoveries during the project that he incorporated her findings in a scientific paper he presented at a conference.
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