From automating mundane tasks to pioneering breakthroughs in healthcare, artificial intelligence is revolutionizing the way we live and work, promising immense potential for productivity gains and innovation. Yet, it has become increasingly apparent that the promises of AI aren’t distributed equally — it risks exacerbating social and economic disparities, particularly across demographic characteristics such as race.
Eliminating Algorithmic Bias Is Just the Beginning of Equitable AI
Industries, governments, and scholars also need to understand how AI shapes the supply and demand for goods and services in ways that perpetuate inequality.
September 29, 2023
HBR Staff/Imansyah Muhamad Putera/Unsplash
Summary.
When it comes to artificial intelligence and inequality, algorithmic bias rightly receives a lot of attention. But it’s just one way that AI can lead to inequitable outcomes. To truly create equitable AI, we need to consider three forces through which it might make society more or less equal: technological forces, supply-side forces, and demand-side forces. The last of these is particularly underemphasized. The use of AI in a product can change how much customers value it — for example, patients who put less stock in an algorithmic diagnosis — which in turn can affect how that product is used and how those working alongside it are compensated.