Amazon is getting rid of a project that was trying to incorporate artificial intelligence with hiring. The tool was supposed to streamline the hiring process, but the technology showed bias against women, according to Reuters.
Amazon’s program penalized applicants who included the word “women’s” and who attended all-women’s colleges. Although it was only being tested internally, it’s still unclear, as The Verge points out, whether or not the program was actually used to make personnel decisions.
One of the biggest arguments against the use of artificial intelligence is how it perpetuates biases from data.
In September, seven members of Congress wrote letters to the Federal Trade Commission, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission highlighting the risks of facial recognition technology, another form of AI.
“While they can offer many benefits, we are concerned by the mounting evidence that these technologies can perpetuate gender, racial, age, and other biases,” said the senators in their letter to the FTC.
Although companies are using AI and facial recognition to avoid bias in the hiring process, flaws in the technology are making companies question how to move forward.
