By McKenzie Jackson
California Black Media

Sofia Mbega’s first exposure to technology — more specifically, Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) — happened years before she moved from East Africa to the Golden State.

Mbega was a student at the University of Dodoma in Tanzania, when her mother, Gloria Mawaliza, suggested she take a technology course after learning about computer science from co-workers at the international children’s nonprofit World Vision.

Mbega, a Stockton resident since 2018, said taking courses in software engineering, and receiving a degree in 2015, was previously unheard of in Tanzania.

“We were the first batch of students,” Mbega said of herself and her classmates. “It was a new profession for my country.”

When she learned about A.I. systems, a topic that continues to grab headlines across the U.S. with experts and pundits wrestling with its merits and dangers, Mbega was intrigued.

“I was so excited,” she recalled. “But I did not picture things would be like this. I thought A.I. would only be something to help software engineers.”

The technology has moved well beyond that purpose.

A.I. floodgates opened into the mainstream of human consumption late last year with the release of the generative A.I. ChatGPT, which uses natural language procession to create humanlike conversational dialogue for public use.

Trending

Tale of Two Underground Railroad Communities

A.I.’s popularity has spearheaded discussions on how chatbots and other A.I. applications like face recognition and A.I. voice generator will impact the workforce, educational systems, entertainment, and individuals’ daily lives.

Despite only accounting for a small percentage of the technology sector workforce, Black women like Mbega, a 31-year-old independent data analysis contractor, are constantly assessing the positives and negatives of A.I. and what it is like to work in the industry.

Mbega, a member of Black Women in A.I., a 3-year-old organization that aims to educate and empower Black women, says she is still excited about A.I., but alarm bells are ringing.

If you ask large language model-based chatbots like ChatGPT a question, they will answer. People have used A.I. to do draft emails, compose music, write computer code, and create videos and images.

Mbega worries that bad actors could use A.I. for nefarious reasons.

“Someone can make a video of someone saying a crazy or bad thing and people will believe it,” she said.

Oakland resident Joy Dixon, a software engineering manager at Hazel Health and the founder of Mosaic Presence Inc., is concerned about students becoming too dependent on A.I. to do educational tasks such as write papers and solve problems.

“How much is it really advancing them?” Dixon asked. “Is it doing us a disservice that we won’t see now, but maybe in five to 10 years?”

Her main concern with A.I. though is prejudices present in the technology.

“A.I. is built on models of people, and people have their own biases and challenges,” Dixon said. “Computers aren’t neutral.”

There are documented instances of A.I. image generators producing distorted or stereotypical images of Black people when directed to create an image of a “Black” or “African American” person. The technology has created images depicting Black people with lighter skin tones or non-Black hair.

In July, Bloomberg analyzed more than 5,000 images generated by Stability AI’s Stable Diffusion and revealed that the text-to-image model amplified stereotypes about race and gender. It portrayed individuals with lighter skin tones as having high-paying jobs and people with darker skin tones having occupations such as dishwashers, janitors and housekeepers.

Google disabled it’s A.I. program’s ability to let people search for monkeys and gorillas through its Photos app eight years ago because the algorithm was incorrectly putting Black people in those categories.

A.I. developers have said they are addressing the issue of biases, but Dixon, 53, who has worked in tech since 1997, believes the problem will persist unless more people of color participate in constructing the systems A.I. technology is built upon.

“When car airbags were first released, they killed more women than saved women because nobody tested them on crash dummies that were the size of women,” she said. “There is similar concern about A.I. If you are only building models with a certain subset of the demographic, then you are leaving whole groups out.”

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed an executive order on Sept. 6 to examine the use, development, and risks of A.I. in the state and to shape a process for deployment and evaluation of the technology.

Newsom called A.I. “transformative technology” and noted that the government sees the good and bad of A.I.

“We’re taking a clear-eyed, humble approach to this world-changing technology,” he said.

Dr. Brandeis Marshall, a data scientist and professor at Atlanta’s Spelman College, said Black women in technology have skills equal to or better than their counterparts, so more should be involved in the construction of A.I. systems. However, they do not get the same opportunities.

“I meet plenty of Black women who have all the chops, but they haven’t been promoted,” she said. “You tend to be the only one in the room.

Black Women in A.I. founder, Angle Bush of Houston, said Black women can contribute much to A.I.

“We have had to be innovative,” she said. “If we don’t have something, we figure out a way to create it. There are a lot of ideas that haven’t come to fruition because of lack of access and opportunity. It has nothing to do with our aptitude.”

Mbega believes the technology can be groundbreaking in health care and help identify ailments such as brain cancer.

Marshall said any discussions of A.I. systems taking over the world like in a Hollywood blockbuster are overblown.

“Right now, we get inundated with all the cool things,” she said. “Then, we seem surprised that there are harmful things. Let’s get a 360-degree view before we put all of our chips in one basket.”

By Jennifer Levasseur, Vickie Lindsey, and Amy Stamm

Forty years ago, on Aug. 30, 1983, Guy Bluford flew into history as the first Black American in space.

Despite launch delays totaling six weeks, the spectacular first night launch of a Space Shuttle brought full circle NASA’s promise of a more inclusive astronaut corps.

Following Sally Ride (America’s first female astronaut) by just two months, Bluford’s spaceflight aboard Space Shuttle Challenger provided another visible moment when more young people could see and be inspired by people like themselves flying into space.

Bluford served as a mission specialist on the STS-8 mission and his jobs were to deploy an Indian communications-weather satellite, perform biomedical experiments and test the orbiter’s 50-foot robotic arm.

Following that first mission, he flew three more times to space on STS-61A, STS-39, and STS-53. By the time of his retirement from NASA in 1993, Bluford had spent more than 28 days in space over the four missions.

At the time of his first mission, Bluford was a 40-year-old Air Force officer with a doctorate in aerospace engineering.

Reluctant to be in the spotlight, his goal was not to make history, but fly into space, do his job, and return safely.

Growing up in a middle-class household in the 1950s and 1960s with educated parents (his mother was a teacher, and his father was a mechanical engineer), Bluford was raised to believe that he could do anything he wanted despite racist social restrictions.

Trending

Congressional Black Caucus Chair Steven Horsford Honored with 2023 NNPA Leadership Award

He enjoyed math and science, particularly in school. Ignoring the advice of his high school advisor to learn a trade or skill, Bluford went on to college to earn his undergraduate degree in aerospace engineering at Penn State University in 1964, also finishing as a distinguished Air Force ROTC graduate.

After his decades of service to the aerospace community in a variety of roles, having spoken dozens of times about his astronaut career and work in aviation, Dr. Guion Bluford was recently appointed by President Joseph Biden as a member of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum’s Advisory Board.

Editor’s note: Jennifer Levasseur, Vickie Lindsey and Amy Stamm are writers for a NASA blog

By Tamara Shiloh

Granville T. Woods, a name that reverberates through the annals of technological innovation, was a trailblazing inventor whose contributions transformed the world. Born before the U.S. Civil War, Woods overcame significant obstacles to become one of the most prolific inventors of his time.

He was born on April 23, 1856, in Columbus, Ohio. Coming of age during the era of racial segregation, Woods faced immense challenges in pursuing his passion for engineering. Denied formal education, he taught himself through relentless self-study and practical experience. Despite racial discrimination, Woods went on to establish a successful career as an inventor, leaving an indelible mark on American technological advancements.

He left school at the age of 10 due to his parents’ poverty and apprenticed in a machine shop learning the trades of a machinist and blacksmith. At 18, he worked as a fireman on a railroad in Missouri, moving to Springfield, Illinois, where he worked at a mill. From 1876-78, some sources say he attended college and studied mechanical and electrical engineering.

He worked on a steamship and rose to the position of chief engineer before returning to Ohio where he became an engineer with the Dayton and Southwestern Railroad. He established a business as an electrical engineer and inventor in 1880 in Cincinnati, reorganized it as the Woods Electric Co. and 12 years later, moved research operations to New York City where he worked with his brother, Lyates, who was also an inventor.

Trending

Biden-⁠Harris Administration Secures Voluntary Commitments from More Artificial Intelligence Companies to Manage the Risks Posed by AI

Granville Woods’ most significant contributions were in the field of railway technology. He invented numerous devices that revolutionized the safety and efficiency of railroad systems. One of his notable inventions was the “Synchronous Multiplex Railway Telegraph,” which allowed communication between trains, reducing the risk of accidents.

Additionally, Woods developed the “Induction Telegraph System,” enabling moving trains to communicate with station operators. His inventions played a pivotal role in enhancing the safety, reliability, and coordination of train operations, earning him the nickname “The Black Edison.”

Beyond the railroad industry, Woods made groundbreaking advancements in electrical engineering and communication. He invented the “Telegraphony,” a device that combined the telegraph and telephone, allowing voice communication over long distances.

Woods also developed the “Multiplex Railway Telegraph,” which allowed simultaneous communication on multiple telegraph lines. His inventions greatly influenced the development of telegraph and telephone technology, leading to improved communication systems.

One invention that is still used today is the safety dimmer, allowing theaters to decrease their electricity use by 10%.

Before he died of a cerebral hemorrhage in Harlem on Jan. 30, 1910, he had sold a number of his devices to Westinghouse, General Electric and American Engineering.

Woods held over 60 patents for his inventions, leaving an enduring legacy in the field of engineering. Woods’ contributions were posthumously recognized, and in 2006, he was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame.