I am leading a workshop at Carnegie Mellon Universitys’ annual MOSAIC 2019 conference which focuses on intersectionality. I plan to first equip the audience with an introduction to automation and machine learning. I plan to ask a series of questions that allows the audience to connect with the topic following, “Who in the audience has a parent or grandparent in the service industry etc.?”, “Can anyone tell me what automation looks like and to give an example?”, “How has automation improved or stunted your quality of life?”. I will first gauge the audience to see how much they know about the current topic. I also plan to go through an exercise in groups, assisted with questions, that allows the audience to think deeply about the topic and how it affects them personally. Below is an overview of topics to be discussed at the conference:
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The increased capabilities of Machine Learning systems are acting as a paradigm to our current society. We currently see automation being introduced in the business sectors as ATM machines, in the mobility industry as autonomous vehicles, in the service industry as self-service kiosks, and beyond. Automation is at the forefront of innovation and Black workers and Black women workers in particular, will be most affected. Due to late onset capitalism and white supremacy, these traditionally low wage, low skill jobs are being affected most advantageously.
Technological innovation is not at a slow down, given Moores law. Technological innovation is also not a new paradigm. We are at a 25% increase in the last decade. In the 1980s, Pittsburgh nearly imploded, as the mighty steel mills closed due to innovation in foreign trade. Currently, a renaissance is occurring in the steel city. Transitioning from a late stage service industry, Pittsburgh is poised to become a global tech hub in one of the country’s most livable metropolitan areas. Automation is going to affect the workforce leading into health care, transit work, service work etc. We need to prepare the Black community for the Future of work in the Age of Humanics.
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I am using content published by Data4BlackLives which is annual conference held at MIT (http://d4bl.org/).