[RndTbl] "Coded?==?utf-8?q? Bias" screening

[Chris Audet]

Coded Bias was great, thanks for the invite Vicki.

In the movie, Cathy O’Neil argued for legislation requiring algorithms
automating decision making to be audited, to make sure they do what they're
supposed to do, and aren't discriminatory.

"Algorithmic accountability".

I was excited to find out that there's already a policy at the federal
level requiring this for government departments:
Directive on Automated Decision-Making- Canada.ca (tbs-sct.gc.ca)
<https://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/pol/doc-eng.aspx?id=32592>

Some highlights:

   - "The objective of this Directive is to ensure that Automated Decision
   Systems are deployed in a manner that reduces risks to Canadians and
   federal institutions, and leads to more efficient, accurate, consistent,
   and interpretable decisions made pursuant to Canadian law."
   - Before an automated decision making system can be used, an Algorithmic
   Impact Assessment <https://canada-ca.github.io/aia-eia-js/> has to be
   completed
   - Meaningful explanation to affected individuals of how and why the
   decision was made is required
   - Ensuring that an Automated Decision System allows for human
   intervention, when appropriate

Brilliant stuff.  I'm beyond impressed to see the public sector ahead of
the curve on this.

As for wider society (private industry, RCMP, police) the situation is
similar to what's described in the movie.  I'm having trouble finding what
the state of the discussion is exactly.  Most of what I find is around police
use of Clearview AI
<https://www.priv.gc.ca/en/opc-news/news-and-announcements/2021/nr-c_210203/>,
and ignores other uses for the technology.

Do you know if there's anyone in MB who's working on this?

Some reports I found:
Law Commission of Ontario report
<https://www.lco-cdo.org/en/the-lco-releases-a-new-report-regulating-ai-critical-issues-and-choices/>
Canada Civil Liberties Association report
<https://ccla.org/cclanewsite/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Interim-Report-Compiled-BM.pdf>

Some civil servants with an interest that I managed to find:
Benoit Deshaies (@MrDeshaies) / Twitter <https://twitter.com/MrDeshaies>
Omar W. Bitar (@owbitar) / Twitter <https://twitter.com/owbitar>



On Fri, Apr 9, 2021 at 3:56 PM Vicki Nemeth <vicki at vickinemethwriter.com>
wrote:

> Hi everyone,
>
> The Winnipeg Data Science Meetup will be screening "Coded Bias," a
> documentary film exploring the fallout of MIT Media Lab researcher Joy
> Buolamwini's discovery of racial bias in facial recognition algorithms. The
> Meetup is on April 20 starting around 6:45pm. You have to register for the
> Zoom info to get in:
> https://www.meetup.com/Winnipeg-Data-Science-Meetup/events/277469894/
>
> Anywhos, see you next week,
>
> Vicki Nemeth
> --
> Get the content marketing done for your IT firm, office space, and
> furniture and green housewares store.
> Visit VickiNemethWriter.com <http://vickinemethwriter.com>
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