ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI) describes machines that can simulate some forms of human intelligence. Some conceptualizations of AI refer to machines that act indistinguishably from humans, while others focus more on ‘machine learning’ that can identify patterns, achieve an optimized outcome to a given problem, and/or make predictions and decisions based on prior information.
To achieve these goals, AI uses algorithms that ‘learn’ from large data sets and adjust and improve over time based on new data. While not a new concept, AI is increasingly embedded in people’s lives and will only become more pervasive.
Organizations across many sectors use AI for a variety of purposes: hiring employees, performing surgeries, tutoring school subjects, making decisions about criminal sentencing, making lending decisions, automating driving, and predicting where crime will occur, to name a few. AI is also used to make recommendations for what people watch on television or the music they listen to; to select which advertisements to show users on social media; and to display results on online search engines.
It would be difficult to find a field today where AI is not involved in some respect. It has become so ubiquitous that some researchers have suggested it is a new type of infrastructure. Rather than being physical and visible like roads, AI is often invisible, but it is nevertheless a moderator of social relations and organizational practices and actions — including the distribution of power.
Social relations and values have long been reflected and reproduced in technology, and AI is no exception. But this also means that the enduring bias, discrimination and inequality that are deeply rooted in society may also be deeply rooted in this technology.
In 2020 and 2021, the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic was felt most acutely by groups who were already marginalized, particularly women, racialized communities and those experiencing low income. Researchers and policy analysts have suggested that recovery policies must be especially attuned to these groups to prevent rising inequality.
Understanding the impacts of AI on the economy and society in Canada — especially in the context of the economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic — means understanding its impacts on marginalized groups. AI can potentially be used innovatively to generate outcomes that benefit diverse communities.
