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Apr 21, 20224 min
Metrics and Meritocracy
“Fully many a flower is born to blush unseen” Thomas Gray Metrics provide tangible proof of performance while merit provides a moral...
Mar 16, 20223 min
Myths & Reality: AI and the Law Part 1
The Digital Law Innovation Society is a student-led group at the University of Alberta that plays at the intersection of technology and...
Mar 1, 202213 min
Responsible Innovation: Would you let an algorithm shortlist you for the job?
Online personality assessment tests are increasingly being used in the recruitment process by a wide range of organizations. These...
May 24, 20214 min
AI and EDI: reflections on making BlackTalk - a new podcast
Last week Google announced a new dermatology app the doesn’t work on darker skinned people. A few days earlier, 60 Minutes did a piece on...
Feb 25, 20213 min
Search algorithms continue to oppress
In February 2019, I gathered in a jam packed hotel ballroom in downtown Edmonton to hear Dr. Safiya Noble talk about her book Algorithms...
Feb 9, 20211 min
Hate Over Health: Understanding racial discrimination in the age of COVID-19
I had the great pleasure of sharing the virtual stage tonight with Dr. Cheryl Prescod, Executive Director of the Black Creek Community...
Dec 15, 20202 min
WAIE and the power of community
This is the time of year when I get reflective, taking stock of the last 12 months while looking ahead to the coming year. To say it's...
Oct 2, 20203 min
Cut and paste culture: The hidden cost of reusing data
Recently, I was on an email thread where a templated email was reused out of context leading to a slightly confusing and funny exchange...
Jul 1, 20204 min
Data, Crime and Punishment: The story of Jack Maple
Let me start this post on crime with a confession – I’m taking a break from coding my data (and I feel so guilty about it!). I did buy...
Jun 9, 20204 min
When who gets to define the problem is the problem...
This past week has been a tough one. It's forced us to look at systemic issues of racism and inequality which we have not been able to...
Feb 6, 20203 min
Computerize the race problem? Charlton McIlwain's opening keynote at AI, Ethics and Society
I'm in NYC for the AI, Ethics and Society conference. Tonight, our opening keynote speaker was Charlton McIlwain who recently published a...
Nov 29, 20191 min
How am I biased?
Last night I was at a talk on ethics and bias hosted by Women in Big Data. One of the presenters mentioned the Harvard Implicit...
Oct 10, 20193 min
Blackface, #MeToo, Alan Turing and super-ethical AI
Ethical behaviour is culturally contextual and constantly evolving. Our not too distant past is filled with discriminatory behaviours and...
