Fixing the bAIs used AI image generating tools to created a huge bank of inclusive and diverse images showcasing women in various professions. These images are then curated into a comprehensive database, where gender labels/metadata were thoughtfully removed to ensure unbiased representation.

The campaign went a step further by injecting these curated datasets into open datasets used to train AI, thereby directly influencing the foundation of AI technology.

Overall, this work exemplifies the power of creative data curation by showcasing how thoughtful and creative use of data can drive meaningful societal change.

In the Middle East, the fight for women's equality in the workforce is at a critical point. Despite progress over the last half-century, female participation in the workforce is at only 25%, far below the global average of 50%. The gender gap is even more evident in leadership roles with men holding 96% of positions on corporate boards, as shown by the MSCI ACWI Index. The rise of Artificial Intelligence exacerbates this issue, reinforcing real life biases. UNESCO warns that AI is regressing decades of female progress, one prompt at a time.

Aurora50, a DEI impact agency founded in 2020, is addressing this challenge. As a catalyst for change in workplace diversity, equity, and inclusion, Aurora50 guides corporations towards more inclusive futures.

Since the companies worldwide are adopting Artificial Intelligence for their daily processes including hiring, Aurora50 did not just want to focus on real-world diversity but also aim to influence the virtual realm.

Aurora50’s mission led to a significant initiative to fix AI biases using AI itself. Our campaign offered a solution to counteract female representation biases in AI, starting on digital platforms and expanding to reach global policymakers.

The campaign's influence was seismic gaining international recognition and influencing policies. It played a pivotal role in influencing 52 nations to adopt the EU’s first AI Act.

As a small Middle Eastern startup, Aurora50 stands as a testament to the power of not only transforming workplaces but also driving significant global societal changes and raising public awareness.

Situation:

With AI on the rise, a hidden issue emerges: women are overlooked in a future shaped by AI. It tends to reproduce human biases, particularly against women. AI, powered by biased datasets, can perpetuate gender stereotypes and inequalities, affecting women's representation and opportunities, and regressing years of progress for women in the workplace.

Data from MIT and UNESCO state that AI image-generating tools think 97% of professionals are men.

Brief/ Objectives:

Aurora50, a leading Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Impact Agency in GCC, that promotes inclusive workplaces and diverse leadership, aimed to combat bias, not just in real-world workplaces but also in the virtual world by creating a International Women’s Day campaign that ignites passion for our vision of an inclusive future.

Fixing the bAIs.

Using AI to fix AI itself.

Through innovative AI image generating tools like Midjourney, DALL-E2 and Stable Diffusion, we created a vast database of inclusive images featuring women in diverse professions. By removing gender labels from metadata and distributing this database across open datasets, stock image banks, and social media platforms, we taught AI to recognize women in all roles. This creative idea stemmed from MIT’s data and insights revealing the lack of diversity in existing AI datasets. The innovation lies in using AI to curate unbiased images and reshape societal perceptions. What makes this campaign stand out is its originality in leveraging AI to combat its own bias and promote inclusivity, ultimately contributing to a fairer future.

In meticulously gathering data from MIT and UNESCO, we uncovered a concerning truth: AI feeds on biased datasets, amplifying existing anti-female biases is why AI image-generating tools perceive 97% of professionals as men.

Our campaign targeted influential figures—key players in the AI industry, policymakers, AI developers, tech leaders, organisations, media, societal representatives - who could spark meaningful change.

Operating across diverse platforms, from social media to open datasets, we sought to rectify biases within AI. Our impactful online video initiated a global conversation, grabbing the attention of both media and key figures in the AI industry.

Our approach involved generating thousands of inclusive images, strategically populating open datasets to reshape AI's perception of women in various professions Notably, we actively participated in the only Plenary meeting of the CAI, thematically linked to examining the draft Council of Europe [Framework] Convention on AI, Human Rights, Democracy, and the Rule of Law.

The campaign's creative use of data began with a comprehensive data journey, identifying gaps in gender representation within AI datasets. Implementation involved leveraging advanced AI image generation tools to curate a diverse collection of images showcasing women in various professions. These images were meticulously integrated into a database, with careful attention paid to removing gender labels from metadata to ensure unbiased representation. Finally, the data was applied strategically, disseminating the diverse image database across various digital platforms and collaborating with major stock image companies to enhance the inclusiveness of AI models globally. Overall, the campaign's innovative data-driven approach effectively challenged biases and promoted gender equality in technology.

By curating a diverse database of images and removing gender labels, the AI generating tools are showing slightly more inclusive results when searching for certain professions, such as lawyers.

The campaign sparked behavior change by challenging biases and promoting inclusivity in AI datasets, influencing individuals, organizations, and policymakers to adopt more equitable practices and policies. Our data-driven approach led to tangible business impacts, such as contributing to the passing of the EU's AI Act and setting a world record for gender equality pledges. Additionally, emerging from a small startup in the Middle East, Aurora50 now stands as a global beacon of change, igniting one of the most significant dialogues on gender equality in the workplace with the highest echelons of political power, through the innovative use of AI. Aurora50 is not only revolutionizing workplaces but also reshaping global perceptions and policies, marking a significant stride towards inclusivity and equality.