彩民宝典

By Iris Serrano

Technology is racist.

While it鈥檚 often hailed as a universal good, technology鈥攆rom A.I., to apps, to algorithms鈥攈as long been perpetuating inequalities and advancing discrimination.

But it doesn鈥檛 have to be that way, according to a leading expert on the role science and technology play in shaping society. Ruha Benjamin, a professor of African American studies at Princeton University, will deliver a guest lecture at the 彩民宝典 next month to kick off both the College of Media, Communication and Information鈥檚 new Center for Race, Media and Technology and the Distinguished Speaker Series.

Bryan Semaan, associate professor of information science and associate chair for undergraduate studies, said he expects Benjamin to share insights from her books, which introduce the idea of the 鈥淣ew Jim Code鈥濃�攁 nod to the Jim Crow laws that enforced segregation鈥攁nd the biases encoded into technology.

鈥淭echnology takes on the values of those who create it,鈥� Semaan, founder of the center, said. 鈥淩acism is often engineered into the very technology that we're using, but it鈥檚 been obfuscated to appear benign, even though that鈥檚 far from the truth. Benjamin embodies that intersection of race and technology in her work.鈥�

Benjamin recently published her fourth book, Imagination: A Manifesto, which explores how imagination can disrupt systems of oppression and envision solutions to complex problems. In an interview with The Boston Globe, she said her new book is an extension of her published scholarship.

鈥淚nnovation and inequity often go hand in hand; so many people get trampled over in the process,鈥� she said. 鈥淚鈥檓 motivated to get more people empowered to ask these kinds of questions and to make them feel they have a say, rather than leave things to the experts.鈥�

Lori Bergen, founding dean of CMCI, said Benjamin鈥檚 perspectives are especially important for a college that places heavy emphasis on both the use and design of technology.

鈥淎t CMCI, technology is an important means of telling our stories and understanding the world around us,鈥� Bergen said. 鈥淚 hope this talk offers our community of creators and scholars an opportunity to reflect on their relationship with the tools they use and seek ways to bring transparency to technology.鈥�