An Evening with Dr. Joy Buolamwini, AI Expert and Author

The Kenneth V. Santagata Memorial Lecture presents, in association with the Hastings Initiative for Artificial Intelligence and Humanity, Dr. Joy Buolamwini

Dr. Joy Buolamwini is the founder of the Algorithmic Justice League, a groundbreaking MIT researcher, a model, and an artist. She is the author of the national bestseller Unmasking AI: My Mission to Protect What Is Human in a World of Machines and advises world leaders on preventing AI harm. Her research on facial recognition technologies transformed the field of AI auditing, and her TED talk on algorithmic bias has been viewed over 1.7 million times. Her TED AI talk on protecting human rights in an age of AI transforms the boundaries of TED talks.

Buolamwini lends her expertise to congressional hearings and government agencies seeking to enact equitable and accountable AI policy. As the poet of code, she creates art to illuminate the impact of AI on society. Her writing and work have been featured in publications like TIME, The New York Times, Harvard Business Review, Rolling Stone, and The Atlantic. Her work as a spokesmodel has been featured in Vogue, Allure, Harper's Bazaar, and People Magazine. She is the protagonist of the Emmy-nominated documentary Coded Bias, which is available to over 100 million viewers.

On Brené Brown's Dare to Lead podcast, Buolamwini discussed fighting bias in algorithms, the Gender Shades project and how it evaluates the accuracy of AI-powered gender classification products, and her perspective on technology as a poet, artist, and scientist.

Buolamwini is the first Black researcher to grace the cover of Fast Company, appearing in the 2020 “Most Creative People” issue, and has been named to notable lists including Forbes 30 under 30, Bloomberg 50, Time 100 AI Inaugural list, and MIT Tech Review 35 under 35. She is the recipient of notable awards, including the Rhodes Scholarship, the Fulbright Fellowship, the inaugural Morals and Machines Prize, and the Technological Innovation Award from the Martin Luther King Jr. Center. She was selected as a 2022 Young Global Leader, one of the world’s most promising leaders under the age of forty as determined by The World Economic Forum. Fortune named her the "conscience of the AI revolution." Buolamwini earned her PhD from MIT and was awarded honorary degrees from Dartmouth and Knox College. She enjoys drawing and drumming in her free time.

Copies of Unmasking AI will be available for purchase at Mills Hall and Dr. Buolamwini will be on hand to sign copies immediately following the talk.

Sponsored by the Kenneth V. Santagata Memorial Fund in association with the Hastings Initiative for Artificial Intelligence and Humanity.

For access to the livestream of this talk and for more information, please contact Jenn Berube Lord at jberube@bowdoin.edu or 207-725-3928.

Open to the public free of charge.