AI gender discrimination in Facebook job ads
Sexism and racism in artificial intelligence worries scientists. University of California has now studied how AI chooses to show job opportunities for men and women. Researchers conclude that Facebook gender bias is “beyond what can be legally justified.”
The study says Facebook users may not be informed about jobs for which they are qualified because the company’s software disproportionately direct ads to a particular gender “beyond what can be legally justified.”
In one example, Facebook targeted an Instacart delivery job ad to a female-dominated audience and a Domino’s Pizza delivery job ad to a male-dominated audience. Instacart has mostly female drivers, and Domino’s mostly men.
Microsoft LinkedIn showed the ads for both companies to about the same proportion of women.
TAMPERING DOWN BIAS
Study author Aleksandra Korolova, assistant professor of computer science at USC, in a statement said it might be that LinkedIn is doing a better job at deliberately tamping down bias, or it might be that Facebook is simply better at picking up real-world cues from its users about gender imbalances and perpetuating them.
“It’s not that the user is saying, ‘Oh, I’m interested in this.’ Facebook has decided on behalf of the user whether they are likely to engage,” she said. “And just because historically a certain group wasn’t interested in engaging in something, doesn’t mean they shouldn’t have an opportunity to pursue it, especially in the job category.”
UNDERSTAND THE CONCERNS
Facebook said in a statement it has been taking meaningful steps to address issues of discrimination in ads.
“Our system takes into account many signals to try and serve people ads they will be most interested in, but we understand the concerns raised in the report,” Facebook said.
LinkedIn said the study’s findings align with its internal review of job ads targeting.
“However, we recognize that systemic change takes time, and we are at the beginning of a very long journey,” LinkedIn said in a statement.
“Facebook’s ad delivery can result in skew of job ad delivery by gender beyond what can be legally justified by possible differences in qualifications,” the study said adding that:
ANTI-DISCRIMINATION LAWS
The finding strengthens the argument that Facebook’s algorithms may be in violation of US anti-discrimination laws.
US federal law prohibits discrimination based on gender, race, age and other traits in advertising for housing, employment and credit products. The federal government has argued that ads must be distributed in ways that don’t disadvantage protected classes of people’s ability to see them.
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