That Ain’t Right: AI Mistakes and Black Lives

Chad JenkinsProfessor, Electrical Engineering and Computer ScienceUniversity of MichiganAssociate DirectorRobotics Institute

Our nation is poised to invest billions of dollars to remain the leader in artificial intelligence as well as quantum computing. This investment is critically needed to reinvigorate the science that will shape our future.

In order to get the most from this investment, we have to create an environment that will produce innovations that are not just technical advancements but will also benefit and uplift everybody in our society. We are increasingly seeing how AI is having a pervasing impact on our lives, both for good and for bad.

This talk will explore the causes of systemic inequality in AI, the impact of this inequity within the field of AI and across society today, and offer thoughts for the next wave of AI inference systems for robotics that could provide introspectability and accountability. Ideas explored build upon the open letter and “Before we put $100 billion into AI…” opinion.

Equal opportunity for anyone requires equal opportunity for everyone.


College of Engineering office of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion