The Overlooked Upsides of Algorithms in the Workplace

She believes technology can make the world a better place in the future.

There is a law professor at the University of San Diego who studies how technology and the gig economy affect workers. She knows about the potential disruptions caused by tools like automated résumé screening and apps that assign work to people. There is too much discussion about the harms created by automation and artificial intelligence.

She encourages a sunnier view in her book The Equality Machine: Harnessing Digital Technology for a Brighter, More Inclusive Future Many of the most important and personal aspects of our lives, with job seekers increasingly placing their fate in the hands of automated systems and home health care devices, are surveyed by her. More diverse applicants or more effective health care can be created by using such tools. She talked to WIRED about the power of artificial intelligence. The interview has been edited to make it clearer.

The book is described as contrarian by you. The recent attention to the idea that artificial intelligence can be harmful is baffling.

There has been too much of a discussion for the past decade. The people in the tech industry celebrate technology for the sake of technology, not for equality, justice, or fairness. There are people asking who are the winners and who are thelosers. The two conversations needed to be bridged.

We need to celebrate opportunities and successes instead of just focusing on the problems. People who are interested in having these discussions are discouraged. Women and minorities are opting out of working for Big Tech. It is a vicious circle, where we are getting less diverse voices on the inside, and the people who are being critical have less skin.

People assume that the answers come from a computer program. There is a risk that no one will question automated hiring calls or accusations of harassment.

I have been researching hiring and diversity for a while. We know that there is a lot of discrimination. If you want to know if you are introducing a hiring algorithm that is better than the human processes, you should ask. Adding more training data can be used to correct biases. How much can we change as humans versus how much can we change the system?

Most large companies use automated resume screening. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Labor Department should look at the claims against them. It hasn't been enough to discuss the sources of the risks and whether they can be fixed.