Why Women Need to be Involved in Data Science to Prevent Bias in Algorithms

I often get asked why algorithms are biased and it’s a highly relevant question. Machine learning algorithms learn from data, so, if data is biased then there is a strong chance that the algorithms from which it is derived are too. In addition, algorithms are created by humans, and if said humans composing the data science team are biased, then the algorithm most likely will be too. So, the more diverse data science teams are the more chance we have to prevent bias in emerging technologies. People are also curious as to why we need more women in tech and the answer is pretty straightforward. First and foremost, there are very few women plying their trade in the tech industry. Secondly, we need to create multidisciplinary and diverse teams to resolve complicated problems with data, such as bias. Having more women in tech is a must to achieve this. With more multidisciplinary and gender-inclusive teams, I’m confident we can help reduce bias across multiple industries.