NEWS
KM training
session for April CILIP’S UK e-Information Group (UKeIG) is holding a training session on Advanced Knowledge Management: strategy & digital implementation next month. The advanced course explores KM stra- tegic planning and practical advice on how to implement KM Platforms in the digital workplace. The course will be led by Dion Linsdsay and is aimed at people with at least a basic understanding of KM, and will focus on enterprise-level implications of KM. The event takes place at CILIP’s Ridg- mount Street HQ in London on 23 April. To book and find out more visit https://bit. ly/38fPtba
Book now for ARLG
Darts conference BOOKING for this year’s Academic and Research Libraries Group (ARLG) Darts conference close at the end of the month. The conference – Discovering Academic
research training and support – takes place on 10 and 11 May at Dartington Hall, Totnes. This year marks the seventh Darts conference and speakers at the two-day event include Jeremy Atkinson, Katherine Stephan and Judith Kerr, Andrew M Cox, and Kirstyn Radford. The theme is collabo- ration and partnership in research. For more information and to book a place,
visit
www.cilip.org.uk/event/DARTS7 before 31 March.
New data added to IFLA Library Map
TWO new countries have been added to IFLA’s Library Map of the World. Armenia and Greece are the latest coun- tries to submit data to the online resource, which sheds light on the numbers and work of libraries across the globe. The project collates basic information from countries and regions, as well as more in depth stories of how libraries are supporting the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. The aim is to provide a global advocacy tool to highlight the potential of an interna- tional network of libraries and to show how they support local communities. l
https://librarymap.ifla.org/
14 INFORMATION PROFESSIONAL
Lack of diversity danger for Artificial Intelligence as bias could be in-built
A LACK of diversity in teams that develop artificial Intelligence appli- cations means that in-built bias and discrimination could be prevalent in the technology – unless steps are taking now. The report, Artificial Intelligence and Public Standards, was published by the Committee on Standards in Public Life in February. The dangers of in-built bias have been highlighted by BCS – the Chartered Institute for IT, in its written submission to the report, which was chaired by Lord Evans of Weardale. Dr Bill Mitchell, BCS’s Director of Policy,
said: “Lack of diversity in product devel- opment teams is a concern as non-diverse teams may be more likely to follow prac- tices that inadvertently hard-wire bias into new products or services.”
Errors in training data for AI could be exasperated by a lack of diversity – one example cited is AI to detect skin cancer that is only tested on white skin could lead to inaccuracies when used on black skin. While this may not be the result of active bias from developers, the results – poten- tially more misdiagnoses for BAME people – would be discriminatory. Dr Mitchell said: “There is a very old
adage in computer science that sums up many of the concerns around AI enabled public services: ‘Garbage in, garbage out.’ In other words, if you put poor, partial, flawed data into a computer it will mind- lessly follow its programming and output poor, partial, flawed computations. AI is a
statistical-inference technology that learns by example. This means if we allow AI systems to learn from ‘garbage’ examples, then we will end up with a statistical-infer- ence model that is really good at producing ‘garbage’ inferences.” BCS was among a number of contrib- utors to the report that saw the value in promoting more diverse development teams to help identify and avoid potential ethical pitfalls in AI.
The report makes a number of recom- mendations, including a specific call for all those working in the field of AI to take active steps to avoid bias, saying: “Pro- viders of public services, both public and private, must consciously tackle issues of bias and discrimination by ensuring they have taken into account a diverse range of behaviours, backgrounds and points of view. They must take into account the full range of diversity of the population and provide a fair and effective service.” The report also points out that diverse teams would be advantageous, stating: “AI experts suggested a range of methods to manage data bias. Chief among these was the need to ensure diversity in AI teams. A workforce composed of a single demo- graphic is less likely to check for and notice discrimination than diverse teams. At every stage – from the design of a product to its deployment – diversity was seen as a necessity. The Committee heard that while data bias may create discrimination, a lack of diversity will facilitate it.” Read the full report at
https://bit.ly/2PFgqPb.
New plans for uni library
BRISTOL University has submitted plans for a new £80m library to house the institutions special collections. A decision on the plans is expected to be made in the spring, and if given the go-ahead the new library will pro- vide 2,000 individual study spaces and provide a home for 420,000 books and 70,000 journals.
The library will be on Bristol Univers-
ity’s Clifton campus and will replace student accommodation and office space. The University is keen for the new library to be as environmentally friendly and sustainable as possible, with engi- neers for the project describing it as “an exemplar of sustainable and healthy building performance”.
March 2020
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