Earlier this year NYT published a piece asking a serious yet rarely asked question, “Who Is Making Sure the A.I. Machines Aren’t Racist?” Showcasing the startling yet common issues POC engineers face while working with artificial intelligence. As a Politics major and Black woman, the article while a disturbing reality, was not surprising to read about.
However, seeing it in action changed my perspective on A.I, realizing the seriousness of diversity needing to be addressed. While on Pinterest looking for nail ideas, it reminded me that words carry racial bias. Pinterest’s added feature to filter by skin tone, elevates A.I’s bias further. Especially as language develops and terms previously considered “slang,” become revamped or reclaimed taking on new meaning.
Is Artificial Intelligence Further Normalizing Oppression?
I knew by clicking the recommended search for dope nails; the styles were going to be outrageous without a doubt. I was not expecting the recommendations for Black women, or WOC, to reflect a long-time debated stereotype.
Orig “Dope Nails” Pinterest 
3rd Skin Tone Filter “Dope Nails” Pinterest 
4th Skin Tone Filter “Dope Nails” Pinterest
When filtering skin tones, there were notable differences in nail length and designs (as seen above.) But it was the weekend, so I figured it was a mistake, and went back to click on another recommended search, funky nail art. Again, in filtering skin tones the stereotypes were still present, just not as blatant. I still feel incredibly hurt though, especially after everything that transpired in 2020. Did society not learn anything from that entire year?
Orig “Funky Nail Art” Pinterest 
3rd Skin tone Filter “Funky Nail Art” Pinterest 
4th Skin tone Filter “Funky Nail Art” Pinterest
Narrator: “They indeed, had learned nothing.”
Last week was the anniversary of George Floyd’s death and the social unrest that unfolded after. With many major companies/networks presenting us with performative activism yet again. Encouraging everyone to applaud the extensive efforts towards diversity and inclusion, a year later. But then if you just look around, you’ll see how things have not changed one bit. There’s even a recent Time’s article about three WOC suing Pinterest over racist/sexist practices in the workplace. Again, not shocking in terms of what happened, but more so that it’s still happening to this extent after 2020s social unrest.