Can algorithms discriminate based on personal prejudices embedded into the technology? Are computers capable of racism and sexism? In her quest to create an inspiration mirror for her science project, M.I.T student Joy Buolamwini discovered her computer software program worked only when she donned a white mask. The training sets provided to “teach machines to see” showed biometrics authentication registered better in mostly light-skinned men, as opposed to female faces of color. Artificial intelligence is being used like tattoos or microchips to keep track of human behavior. Too many documentarians realize halfway through shooting that they don’t have enough material to warrant a feature and begin scrambling to find sidebars to pad the running time. Not Shalini Kantayya. She begins her narrative with a cogent history of facial recognition technology and won’t quit until laws have been passed against the high-tech bigotry programmed into A.I. that discriminates against minorities. It screens as part of this year’s Human Rights Watch Film Festival. The 11-film series will be available online June 11-20. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit https://ff.hrw.org/. (2020) — Scott Marks
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