Technology is meant to improve our lives, but what if it discriminates? Some of the technologies that power our lives each day can contain hidden biases that affect communities of color, a Consumer Reports investigation found.
For decades, people of color were kept out of home ownership because of a practice called redlining. The practice is now illegal, but similar results can still be found in today’s digital world.
“The information used in redlining has largely been fed into new algorithms that are essentially doing the same kind of thing without the racist overtones,” said Consumer Reports’ Brian Vines.
A new Consumer Reports documentary series called “Bad Input” sheds light on how technology is failing — in home lending, medicine, facial recognition and security.
That raises the question: Can technology be racist?
“The answer is yes. Frankly, tech can be racist. If tech is fed bad information, it will continue to give us bad outputs,” Vines said.
For example, during the pandemic, pulse oximeters helped save lives. But a study by the University of Michigan experts showed that the technology was not as accurate for Black patients versus white patients.
“People of color were presenting and getting wrong readings. It delayed the care that they were able to receive and could really have some dire consequences if you’re showing up and your blood oxygen level is incorrect,” Vines said.
You may not notice it, but facial recognition technology can be found so many places — from your phone to the self-checkout at a store to the line at an event where security is scanning.
“We’ve seen cases across the country of people being misidentified and facing criminal charges,” Vines said.
To learn more about discriminatory technology and to watch CR’s three-part documentary series, “Bad Input,” visit https://www.consumerreports.org/badinput/.
Copyright 2023 by KSAT/Consumer Reports – All rights reserved.
