How to spot human bias in the tech your company uses

We’re only in the beginning stages of rooting out bias in tech, so awareness is key.

But while it’s easy to blame tech for bias, bias ultimately comes from poor data provided by a human. Some factors may be out of your control when it comes to human-placed bias, but there are steps you can take to identify bias in the tech products your organization uses and hold vendors accountable for anti-bias tech offerings.  

To prevent bias from seeping into tech decisions, every employee should be educated on equitable and anti-bias practices—especially if your company writes algorithms for any of its products. Make this training standard to ensure it’s part of your organization’s operational fabric. Also, apply anti-bias data checks if you leverage automated processes. You don’t want automation to scale up potential biases.

Make the transparent evaluation of data a priority for the partner companies and vendors you work with. Look for organizations with formal and proven processes that evaluate data for bias and regularly publish these findings. 

Public companies, like Amazon, Apple, and Microsoft, are required to publish annual environmental, social and governance (ESG) reports that document their impacts across these three areas, but private companies aren’t required to publish ESGs. 

Consider differences in culture, language and disability when deciding on a tech solution because human bias exists in these areas as well.

For example, Zoom is addressing language and disability by adding closed captioning with live translation to their calls, allowing non-English speakers and those who are hard of hearing to feel included. 

In adopting new tech, consider whether the user experience is palatable for multiple generations of workers, not just younger employees.

As you engage in your own DEI(Diversity, Equity & Inclusion) efforts, it’s essential to root out human biases in your organization’s internal datasets and those you acquire from third-party vendors.

By pushing for more transparency and accountability, adopting a more detailed purchase decision process and making inclusive products a priority, you can raise awareness and help lead the charge in eliminating human bias in tech.