We’ve always tried to take a positive look at technology on this show, but sometimes that’s just not possible. The last few weeks, in the wake of George Floyd’s murder and the protests that erupted around the world, has shone a light on some of the tech world’s murkier aspects.

It turns out facial recognition technologies were flawed from the start, filled with biases because of where the original data came from: white men. Thanks to coders such as Joy Buolamwini and Deborah Raji, those biases are finally being acknowledged by the tech world, with some leading companies suggesting they might drop their research for good.

But is it too late? US police forces have been dabbling with facial recognition for years already, filling up their databases with literal fiction. The Georgetown Law Center on Privacy and Technology released a review of police facial recognition practices and what they found is not only ridiculous but reinforces the police targeting of People of Colour.

Trump has turned on his favoured mouthpiece, Twitter, after they flagged up a tweet that incited violence during Black Lives Matter protests, but can he actually do anything about it? Probably not… Meanwhile, Mark Zuckerberg doesn’t want to moderate Trump’s Facebook content. Facebook employees, however, feel differently. Speaking of moderating, how much thought do we give the human moderators that shield us all from some truly horrific content? Facebook recently acknowledged that these employees (contracted to Facebook via private companies) have suffered PTSD as a result of their work.

Check out the Algorithmic Justice League, founded by Buolamwini - a comprehensive resource for fighting technologically-embedded biases.

Read more about Facebook moderators in this harrowing article from The Verge, and read the moderators’ anonymous statement in full.

Read more reports from the Georgetown Law Centre on Privacy and Technology on the widespread use of facial recognition technologies in the US.

Creative Machines is recorded and produced by David Angell at his studio, Giant Sound Toronto.

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