AI, Ain't I A Woman? - Joy Buolamwini

www.notflawless.ai Poet of Code shares "AI, Ain't I A Woman " - a spoken word piece that highlights the ways in which artificial intelligence can misinterpret the images of iconic black women: Oprah, Serena Williams, Michelle Obama, Sojourner Truth, Ida B. Wells, and Shirley Chisholm AI, Ain't I A Woman - Full Poem My heart smiles as I bask in their legacies Knowing their lives have altered many destinies In her eyes, I see my mother's poise In her face, I glimpse my auntie's grace In this case of deja vu  A 19th century question comes into view In a time, when Sojourner truth asked "Ain't I a woman?" Today, we pose this question to new powers Making bets on artificial intelligence, hope towers The Amazonians peek through Windows blocking Deep Blues As Faces increment scars Old burns, new urns Collecting data chronicling our past  Often forgetting to deal with  Gender race and class, again I ask "Ain't I a Woman?" Face by face the answers seem uncertain Young and old, proud icons are dismissed Can machines ever see my queens as I view them? Can machines ever see our grandmothers as we knew them? Ida B. Wells, data science pioneer Hanging facts, stacking stats on the lynching of humanity Teaching truths hidden in data Each entry and omission, a person worthy of respect Shirley Chisholm, unbought and unbossed The first black congresswoman But not the first to be misunderstood by machines Well-versed in data drive mistakes Michelle Obama, unabashed and unafraid To wear her crown of history Yet her crown seems a mystery To systems unsure of her hair A wig, a bouffant, a toupee? May be not Are there no words for our braids and our locks? Does sunny skin and relaxed hair Make Oprah the first lady? Even for her face well-known Some algorithms fault her Echoing sentiments that strong women are men We laugh celebrating the successes  Of our sisters with Serena smiles No label is worthy of our beauty.