Artificial Intelligence & Bias: Past, Present & Future

A conversation with
Iris Bohnet
Professor of Public Policy, Harvard Kennedy School
Director of the Women and Public Policy Program, HKS
Co-chair, Behavioral Insights Group, HKS
Cynthia Dwork
Gordon McKay Professor of Computer Science, Harvard Paulson School of Engineering
Radcliffe Alumnae Professor, Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study
Alex “Sandy” Pentland
Professor of Media Arts and Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Toshiba Professor, MIT
Media Lab Entrepreneurship Program Director, MIT
Sheila Jasanoff (moderator)
Pforzheimer Professor of Science and Technology Studies, Harvard Kennedy School
Director, Program on Science, Technology and Society, HKS

Panelists Iris Bohnet, Professor of Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School, Director of its Women and Public Policy Program and Co-chair of its Behavioral Insights Group; Cynthia Dwork, the Gordon McKay Professor of Computer Science at the Harvard Paulson School of Engineering and Radcliffe Alumnae Professor at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study; and Alex “Sandy” Pentland, Professor of Media Arts and Sciences and Media Lab Entrepreneurship Program Director at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology joined moderator Sheila Jasanoff, the Pforzheimer Professor of Science and Technology Studies and Director of the Program on Science, Technology and Society at the Harvard Kennedy School for a panel discussion to reflect on the future of artificial intelligence. The panelists specifically discussed the role bias has played—and will play—in the construction of AI programs, particularly given the human subjectivity inherent in programming.