Presenter
Dr. Rebekah Rousi* and Juho-Pekka Mäkipää
University of Vaasa, Finland
Abstract
In the area of AI ethics, increasingly more discussions are focusing on bias. Bias generates through a concentration of ideas or information that focus on certain parts of a whole, yet not necessarily the entire whole. In our current algorithmic era of artificial intelligence and particularly large language models, attention has been placed on bias resulting from lack of comprehensive representation of knowledge by both people developing the technology, and those who use it. In other words, the digital divide is alive and well for numerous reasons – linguistic, economic, geographical, accessibility-related. Yet, how to increase inclusion to deepen diversity within the algorithms is a point for discussion and contention. The same barriers that are present within the algorithms and the technology design, are the same social barriers that are present in human-to-human communication. This presentation is aimed at highlighting issues of discomfort and disability from the perspective of developers. Here, ‘disability’ refers to a lack of ability by those who develop technology to engage and collaborate with people who hold diverse experiential views and abilities. The presentation will not offer any quick fix solutions but aims to address the problem via its raw nerve – interpersonal social discomfort.