More women in AI may prevent bias: Melinda French Gates

New York, July 3 (IANS) Women must be involved in developing new Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems to prevent bias from these technology tools, American philanthropist Melinda French Gates has said.

French Gates, who is the former wife of billionaire Bill Gates, said she is “very nervous” about how incorporating AI into as many products as possible will ultimately play out for women, because they are not taking the view of women.

“I’m very nervous because we don’t have enough women, again, who are computer scientists, and who have expertise in artificial intelligence, and without that, we will bake bias into the system,” she was quoted as saying to CNN.

“The system needs to take all people’s points of view, and see society, and quite frankly, see the world writ large as it is. “This is why having women in the room and in decision-making positions when it comes to the deployment of AI “is just so vitally important,” she said.

AI models have long been criticised for their ability to perpetuate biases, especially around women and people of colour. Even the new generative AI tool like OpenAI’s ChatGPT, trained on vast troves of online data, also carries the same biases.

“Women should have their full power and influence in the US”, which is currently not the case, French Gates said, citing the example of reversal of Roe v. Wade.

“So, to me, it was a decision, again, where – a decision made for women, not by women,” she noted.

“We should never roll back a law like that that has to do with women’s health.”

“When you have women creating something, making a decision or setting that law, you are bringing that perspective of the society that is so vitally important,” she said.

In a recent op-ed published in Time, Gates said she is “stepping up (her) investments in systems-wide efforts to build women’s political power.”