Inside AI
Bias in Artificial Intelligence
How bias can explode our AI models
--
There has been a lot of confusion over Bias in the field of Artificial Intelligence. Let's try to understand and uncomplicate some things!!
What do you see in this picture above?
- Apple? Apples? A Bushel of apples?
- Fruit? Bunch of fruits?
Okay, there is nothing wrong with these answers!! Just something to notice, how often do we tend to say “Red Apples”…. very typical right?? Agreed. So Categorization within Cognitive Science, where some categories are more typical than others is called Prototype Theory. It is a type of Human Bias or Cognitive Bias, which is a result of the brain’s attempt to simplify information processing by interpreting the world around us in a way that affects our decisions and judgments. If you want to read more about Cognitive Bias “Neil deGrasse Tyson” has explained it really well in his lectures.
Facts: More than 180 Human biases have been defined and classified, many of these biases find their way into AI Systems we design.
According to research from Boston University, the majority of the people tend to overlook the possibility that a surgeon could be a “She”. When considering a doctor or a surgeon, we mostly tend to picture something like this!!
So, What is Bias? What types of Biases are there? Why is it Important for us? So I will try to answer these questions in this Blog Series.
Bias can be defined as “A strong inclination of the mind or a preconceived opinion about something or someone” OR “Disproportionate weight in favor of or against an idea or thing”
One of the most important biases, where it all starts from is us, Humans. This starting point from where this bias gets picked up and gets amplified further is called Human Reporting Bias. It is “The frequency with which people write about actions, outcomes or properties is not a reflection of real-world frequencies or the degree to which a characteristic of a class of individual”. Due to this…