In an effort to lend a theoretical backbone to their conceptions, the filmmakers and interview subjects focus in on what they consider to be the origins of the demographic biases being transmitted into advanced technologies. The word “capitalism” gets no mention and “class” is only brought up occasionally at the end of a list of other identities that include race, gender and sexual orientation. Meanwhile, when the issues of equality and democratic rights are referenced, they are presented in the film as subordinate to the discrimination experienced by various identities.

Through interviews with Buolamwini and other activists opposed to “algorithmic discrimination,” Coded Bias paints a picture of a dystopian society in which white male bias against minorities and women are deeply rooted and the source of run-away advanced technologies that perpetuate prejudice and discrimination. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (Democrat of New York)-a member of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA)-asked Buolamwini what demographic facial recognition tools are “mostly effective on” and “who are the primary engineers and designers of these algorithms?” to which Buolamwini responded with “white men.” She was a key witness at the Democratic Party-run House Oversight and Reform Committee hearing on facial recognition in May 2019. As is depicted in the film, in spite of state utilization of such tools in violation of Fourth Amendment rights, Buolamwini’s research helped the developers improve the accuracy of their face recognition algorithms.īuolamwini’s work has been heavily promoted by the New York Times and other media and political advocates of identity politics.

In her research, first published in 2017, Buolamwini showed that the facial recognition algorithms developed by IBM, Microsoft, Face++ and Google were based on a limited data set and less accurate when identifying darker and female faces than in identifying lighter and male faces. In developing this theme, the documentary features the work of Joy Buolamwini, an African-American MIT Media Lab researcher and founder of the Algorithmic Justice League who has specialized in uncovering such biases in facial recognition technologies. The central argument of Coded Bias is that the computer algorithms used in artificial intelligence, machine learning and facial recognition systems are “embedded” with the race and gender biases of society as a whole. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in early 2020 and has since received positive reviews and several awards including Best International Documentary at the 2020 Calgary International Film Festival. Coded Bias - an 85-minute documentary directed by Shalini Kantayya ( A Drop of Life, 2007 and Catching the Sun, 2015)-began streaming globally on Netflix in April.

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