Racial Bias, Artificial Intelligence and the legacy of Shirley Cards

Racial Bias, Artificial Intelligence and the legacy of Shirley Cards Is the most racist object you are carrying today? Every day billions of people around the world use a device whose history is steeped in racial prejudice.  Black Lives Matter protests in the USA and around the world have brought into sharp relief the injustices caused by racism and the real and sometimes deadly impact it can of the lives of Black people and people of color. The death of George Floyd in Minneapolis whilst being restrained by the police is a brutally strong image of systemic racism. That racism pervades the everyday lives of people in the USA, UK and Europe, where generations have been raised to white privilege and a lack of social justice for Blacks, Asians and minority ethnic peoples (BAME). As the world comes to better understand what systemic racism is and what must be done to challenge and change it the smartphone is a great example of just how ingrained racial bias is within Western Society and what systemic racism is.  From Kodak's Shirley Cards in the 1950s through to the cutting edge of Artificial Intelligence in the 21st Century racism is not only expressed in the thoughts and actions of people but also the technology we design and use.  This short film considers how a picture of a glamorous white woman led to the culture of photography and filmmaking to be stuck in systemic racism and the challenge of changing that to ensure that in photography and filmmaking Black Lives Matter. How would you solve it? Should we solve it? Further reading for those interested in knowing more about this. Looking at Shirley, the Ultimate Norm: Colour Balance, Image Technologies, and Cognitive Equity https://www.cjc-online.ca/index.php/j... For a great first-hand insight into just how cultural inbred racism in this article by Harvard Professor Sarah Lewis The Racial Bias Built Into Photography https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/25/le...