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Elephant motorbikes and too many neckties: epistemic spatialization as a framework for investigating patterns of bias in convolutional neural networks

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Abstract

This article presents Epistemic Spatialization as a new framework for investigating the interconnected patterns of biases when identifying objects with convolutional neural networks (convnets). It draws upon Foucault’s notion of spatialized knowledge to guide its method of enquiry. We argue that decisions involved in the creation of algorithms, alongside the labeling, ordering, presentation, and commercial prioritization of objects, together create a distorted “nomination of the visible”: they harden the visibility of some objects, make other objects excessively visible, and consign yet others to permanent or haphazard invisibility. Our approach differs from those who focus on high-stakes misidentifications, such as errors tied to structural racism. Examining the far more dominant series of low-stakes mistakes shows the scope of errors, destabilizing the goal of image content identification with considerable societal impact. We explore these issues by closely examining the demonstration video of a popular convnet. This examination reveals an interlocking series of biases undermining the content identification process. The picture we paint is crucial for a better understanding of the errors that result as these convnets become further embedded in everyday products. The framework is valuable for critical work on computer vision, AI studies, and large-scale visual analysis.

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Reproduced from Bolya et al. (2019), with permission

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Reproduced from Goodfellow et al. (2014), with permission

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank the feedback provided by the following: London Microdot Creative Visions (15 June 2019), NYU/Columbia University BLM Workshop (6 January 2020), the Stratford School of Interaction Design and Business’ WIPS series (19 November 2020), Tabatha Dominguez, Laura Fong, Paul Giladi, Jennifer Saul, and Karin Schmidlin.

Funding

The authors disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research of this article: this work was supported by a Creative Economy Engagement Fellowship for “Imagining Futures” provided by the UK Arts and Humanities Research Council.

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Correspondence to Raymond Drainville.

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The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

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Drainville, R., Vis, F. Elephant motorbikes and too many neckties: epistemic spatialization as a framework for investigating patterns of bias in convolutional neural networks. AI & Soc (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00146-022-01542-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00146-022-01542-8

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