AI4ALL’s Response to Police Brutality

We at AI4ALL unequivocally support Black people and their right to live. Black lives, and every facet of Black life, matters. We condemn police brutality and any other such systems, institutions, or tools that diminish Black life.

As an organization at the intersection of inclusion and artificial intelligence, we know that technology is not neutral. We have seen AI systems be co-opted into tools of oppression. We understand how bias, even unintended, entrenches existing inequalities and corrupts systems. Our mission is built on changing who has the power to influence technology. As an educational organization that serves students of color and predominately white organizations, we are using education to create pathways into positions of AI leadership for our students.

Addressing these issues will require a multifaceted and long-term approach, of which we are one part. In addition to supporting our work, we encourage you to support and learn about organizations like Algorithmic Justice League, Data for Black Lives, and Project Include. We also encourage you to learn more about racial, socioeconomic, and gender injustice in tech. Excellent books include Race After Technology by Ruha Benjamin, Algorithms of Oppression by Safiya U. Noble, and Automating Inequality by Virginia Eubanks.

Supporting your local community is also especially important in this moment. We encourage you to research bail and mutual aid funds in your community and contribute if you have the means at this time. Support local Black businesses. Vote.

Sharing resources and donating is an important step. Caring for your community is also incredibly important. Check in with your Black friends, neighbors, and coworkers. Having conversations about race can be difficult, but don’t let the fear of making a mistake prevent you from doing it. Here are some resources for these conversations and for interrogating white privilege: How to be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi, So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo, and White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo.

We are continuing to do the work internally and externally, and looking to our community of students, parents, educators, researchers, and sponsors to share their needs with us. We know this work is ongoing, and we are committed to it.