Led by Steve Majercik & Pat Moore
Steve’s reflection: Algorithmic Bias
Sometimes life-changing decisions must be made – which applicant gets a mortgage, which patient receives extra proactive medical care, which prisoner gets paroled – and fairness demands that these decisions be made in an unbiased way. Decision makers sometimes use Artificial Intelligence software to make these decisions, believing that the software will produce decisions that are free of bias, even implicit bias. That belief is sometimes mistaken. What can we, as people committed to fairness and equal treatment, do about it?
Pat’s reflection: Implicit Bias
We must all acknowledge our unconscious biases, and listen with less bias when women, and others who are marginalized, speak out. A lot of change is possible by just acknowledging unconscious bias – that exhaustively documented but unpleasant reality many would rather ignore – and listening with less bias and acting on what we then learn. Tara Moss
Steve Majercik was a faculty member in the Computer Science Department at Bowdoin College from 2000-2023. His research area was Artificial Intelligence, and he is deeply concerned about the problems that AI is already causing in our society and the potential for worse problems in the near future.
Pat Moore has had a career as an oncology and cardiac nurse at Parkview and Maine Medical hospitals. She’s been a member of UUCB for over 12 years and has served as the chairperson of our Worship Committee. Pat currently volunteers at the library bookstore in Bath.
Music by Nell Britton