UMSI Movie Night: Screening of Coded Bias & Discussion

As part of the orientation lineup, Organizational Culture and Community (OCC) invites incoming students—and all UMSI students, faculty, and staff—to a screening of Coded Bias, followed by a faculty-led discussion.

Modern society faces two crucial questions: What happens when artificial intelligence increasingly governs our rights and liberties? And what are the consequences for people against whom AI systems are biased?

In this acclaimed documentary, MIT Media Lab researcher Joy Buolamwini discovers that many facial-recognition systems fail to accurately identify darker-skinned faces and women. Coded Bias follows her investigation into widespread algorithmic bias and her efforts to advance the first U.S. legislation protecting civil rights against biased AI. Directed by Shalini Kantayya, the film premiered at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival and later aired nationally on PBS’s Independent Lens.

After the screening, join UMSI faculty member Kishonna Gray for a discussion about how the film’s themes relate to today’s field of information and UMSI’s core values, particularly sociotechnical thinking and social good.

Location: Michigan Theater Screening Room, 603 E Liberty St, Ann Arbor, MI 48104, near Central Campus
Food: Popcorn and a drink will be provided. 
Seating: Theater capacity is limited; seats are available on a first-come, first-served basis.

Schedule: 

• 5:40 p.m.: Doors open; check-in, and concessions
• 6 p.m.: Opening remarks, followed by the screening
• 8 p.m.: Discussion facilitated by Kishonna Gray

Film runtime: 1 hour, 26 minutes

Content notes: Coded Bias examines systemic racism, discrimination, surveillance, and struggles for social justice. It includes real-world accounts that some viewers may find emotionally challenging, as well as discussion and depictions of facial-recognition and surveillance technologies in the United States, United Kingdom, and China.

This event is exclusively for UMSI faculty, staff, and students. Thank you for understanding. RSVP for a quicker check-in process. 

Can’t attend? You can still stream the movie for free by logging into Kanopy with your U-M credentials.