Sun Feb 14 – [Online] How Can We Fight Back Against Algorithms That Affect Our Lives?

This will be an online Zoom meeting. Please RSVP on our Meetup for this event to get access to the Zoom link. See our online meeting instructions at: http://torontooasis.org/online-meeting-instructions

Our program will run from 11 am to 12:30 pm and you can join in to the meeting starting at 10:45 am for our open social. Followed by an extended discussion for a half hour. Volunteers please join by 10:30 am.

In case you’re wondering, an algorithm is a set of mathematical instructions and rules that a computer needs to complete a task. For our featured presentation this Sunday, we will view a TED talk by Joy Buolamwini on her campaign to fight racist bias in machine learning, especially problems associated with facial recognition, as well as a short talk by one of the authors of The Ethical Algorithm: The Science of Socially Aware Algorithm Design (2019), Michael Kearns. Helen Lenskyj will introduce the topic and moderate the question time. She is hoping that our resident IT experts will lead the way 🙂

Video #1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UG_X_7g63rY
Video #2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4YrSEHaBSc

Helen Lenskyj is Professor Emerita, University of Toronto, where she taught sociology. Helen grew up in Australia and has lived in Toronto since 1966. She completed her Ph.D. at the University of Toronto in 1983, and was a professor from 1986 until retiring in 2007. As well as writing books, she enjoys swimming and kayaking. Her website is www.helenlenskyj.ca; TWITTER: https://twitter.com/helenje63185798

Please RSVP on meetup:
https://www.meetup.com/Toronto-Oasis/events/dtjqdsyccdbsb/

Looking forward to seeing familiar faces and perhaps some new ones!