Official Review: Sex, Race, and Robots: How to Be Human i...
Posted: 26 Dec 2020, 12:29
[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Sex, Race, and Robots: How to Be Human in the Age of AI" by Ayanna Howard.]
Have you ever wondered why our digital assistants have female identities, such as Alexa, Siri, or Cortana? Ayanna Howard on Sex, Race, and Robots: How to Be Human in the Age of AI explains how the same biases that pervade our society reflect and amplify on the Artificial Intelligence (AI) we create and operate. Sex, Race, and Robots: How to Be Human in the Age of AI covers all the topics that make us feel uncomfortable about technology, such as the slight possibility of AI becoming smarter than us, the prospect of AI taking our jobs, and online echo chambers that reinforce our prejudices. The author also addresses current social issues that hit close to home: the tracking of patients with COVID-19, and the relationship of tech with the Black Lives Matter movement. She also surprises us with subjects like vandalism against AI. Best of all, Dr. Howard offers solutions and actions that all of us can take to make technology work for us ethically.
Ayanna Howard, the oldest black woman roboticist alive, is the most qualified person to write a book like this. She is not only a renowned roboticist that has worked, for example, for NASA, but she also belongs to a double minority, an African-American woman that had to fight to make her way in STEM.
My favorite asset from Sex, Race, and Robots: How to Be Human in the Age of AI is the narrative tone. The author addresses the reader directly. She uses colloquialisms and sarcastic humor, and she takes examples not only from her own experiences but from our daily lives to make touchy subjects relatable and as amusing as possible. Dr. Howard captures our love-hate relationship with AI flawlessly. She also keeps technical jargon to the minimum, making this book understandable to a broad audience. I applaud the way she rose above people who discriminated against her by not naming them and just giving funny pseudonyms like “Professor Jerk.”
My main qualm with the book comes from the author using Albert Einstein as an example of the power of quiet activism. I understand that dropping Einstein’s name creates an instant argument of authority, and I’m in favor of any arguments against racism. However, the Washington Post, among other reputable media, has shown that in his travel journals Mr. Einstein showed he was racist, and in his marriage, misogynistic. I would urge the author to pick a better example for a further edition.
I was left with a few unanswered questions. The author states that AI programmed with biases affects all of us. But how does it affect the elite (white, male, US-centric) that creates it? I also never fully understood why we shouldn’t worry about losing our jobs to AI. The basic argument the author presents, that humans are good at making ourselves indispensable, seems flimsy. What about some of us that don’t want futuristic jobs?
The book is only available as an audiobook, so I cannot speak with certainty to the quality of the text, but it appears to be flawlessly edited. Because of the relatable and sincere narrative, the expertise of the author, the practical solutions she offers, and the meaningful topics addressed I rate Sex, Race, and Robots: How to Be Human in the Age of AI by Ayanna Howard 4 out of 4 stars.
I would recommend this book to everyone. We need to be active and informed users of AI, but this is only an Audible Original, so I wouldn’t suggest it for people who prefer printed books or readers who prefer fiction.
Truth is, we are all prejudiced, and self-awareness is essential to change this. I advise taking Harvard’s tests on Project Implicit to discover some of your biases. The author concludes that we need to become better humans so that our creations, AI, in this case, are not discriminating and plain dangerous. Why don’t you start by asking Alexa to order Sex, Race, and Robots: How to Be Human in the Age of AI?
******
Sex, Race, and Robots: How to Be Human in the Age of AI
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Have you ever wondered why our digital assistants have female identities, such as Alexa, Siri, or Cortana? Ayanna Howard on Sex, Race, and Robots: How to Be Human in the Age of AI explains how the same biases that pervade our society reflect and amplify on the Artificial Intelligence (AI) we create and operate. Sex, Race, and Robots: How to Be Human in the Age of AI covers all the topics that make us feel uncomfortable about technology, such as the slight possibility of AI becoming smarter than us, the prospect of AI taking our jobs, and online echo chambers that reinforce our prejudices. The author also addresses current social issues that hit close to home: the tracking of patients with COVID-19, and the relationship of tech with the Black Lives Matter movement. She also surprises us with subjects like vandalism against AI. Best of all, Dr. Howard offers solutions and actions that all of us can take to make technology work for us ethically.
Ayanna Howard, the oldest black woman roboticist alive, is the most qualified person to write a book like this. She is not only a renowned roboticist that has worked, for example, for NASA, but she also belongs to a double minority, an African-American woman that had to fight to make her way in STEM.
My favorite asset from Sex, Race, and Robots: How to Be Human in the Age of AI is the narrative tone. The author addresses the reader directly. She uses colloquialisms and sarcastic humor, and she takes examples not only from her own experiences but from our daily lives to make touchy subjects relatable and as amusing as possible. Dr. Howard captures our love-hate relationship with AI flawlessly. She also keeps technical jargon to the minimum, making this book understandable to a broad audience. I applaud the way she rose above people who discriminated against her by not naming them and just giving funny pseudonyms like “Professor Jerk.”
My main qualm with the book comes from the author using Albert Einstein as an example of the power of quiet activism. I understand that dropping Einstein’s name creates an instant argument of authority, and I’m in favor of any arguments against racism. However, the Washington Post, among other reputable media, has shown that in his travel journals Mr. Einstein showed he was racist, and in his marriage, misogynistic. I would urge the author to pick a better example for a further edition.
I was left with a few unanswered questions. The author states that AI programmed with biases affects all of us. But how does it affect the elite (white, male, US-centric) that creates it? I also never fully understood why we shouldn’t worry about losing our jobs to AI. The basic argument the author presents, that humans are good at making ourselves indispensable, seems flimsy. What about some of us that don’t want futuristic jobs?
The book is only available as an audiobook, so I cannot speak with certainty to the quality of the text, but it appears to be flawlessly edited. Because of the relatable and sincere narrative, the expertise of the author, the practical solutions she offers, and the meaningful topics addressed I rate Sex, Race, and Robots: How to Be Human in the Age of AI by Ayanna Howard 4 out of 4 stars.
I would recommend this book to everyone. We need to be active and informed users of AI, but this is only an Audible Original, so I wouldn’t suggest it for people who prefer printed books or readers who prefer fiction.
Truth is, we are all prejudiced, and self-awareness is essential to change this. I advise taking Harvard’s tests on Project Implicit to discover some of your biases. The author concludes that we need to become better humans so that our creations, AI, in this case, are not discriminating and plain dangerous. Why don’t you start by asking Alexa to order Sex, Race, and Robots: How to Be Human in the Age of AI?
******
Sex, Race, and Robots: How to Be Human in the Age of AI
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
