80% of search results for “beautiful skin”, don’t include women of colour
Beauty brand Olay are on a mission to change that
Cosmetics brand Olay, have kick-started an initiative called ‘Decode the Bias’ to double the number of women in STEM, with the ultimate goal of helping mitigate the current racial bias that exists in search engines. Currently when you search for terms on Google such as ‘beautiful skin,’ ‘beautiful face’ or ‘beautiful woman’ over 80 per cent of the results will yield only caucasian women. This, is something that Olay have decided to take a stand against.
In their new US nation-wide ad campaign, they have teamed up with Professor Joy Buolamwini, who uses her research to illuminate the social implications of artificial intelligence. Her award winning Netflix documentary ‘Coded Bias’ revealed how systemic racism is prevalent in search engines such as Google and more worryingly in AI systems used by major companies that help select candidates for jobs and social housing. Her MIT thesis uncovered large racial and gender bias in these AI services, prompting her to found the Algorithmic Justice League.
Joy Buolamwini stars in Olay’s #DecodetheBias initiative
Buolamwini shared photos of the campaign, which just featured in the latest edition of Vogue US on her social media. She stars in the advertisements alongside other notable women such as, playwright and poet Mars Williams, artist Angela Christine, climate activist Dakota Delfin, hard of hearing advocate Shernita Anderson and model Carlene John, who is a vitiligo advocate.
Olay explained in a statement, “Decode the Bias highlights one major issue—how data, computer code, and AI reinforce exclusionary beauty standards and exclude women of colour. These algorithmic systems rule our world and we have to ensure these systems are not continuing to perpetuate harmful forms of bias and discrimination.”
When you use Olay’s #DecodetheBias hashtag on Instagram or Twitter, the company has offered to send a female student to code camp, “And inspire the next generation of women to Face Anything.” For each hashtag Olay will send one girl to code camp, but it will be capped at 1,200.
Buolamwini explains, “We want the world to remember that who codes matters, how we code matters, and that we can code a better future.”
The hashtag campaign #DecodetheBias will be active until the 31 October, so you still have a chance to send a woman to code camp with Olay.