Stephanie Dinkins leads a conversation about the exclusionary nature of artificial intelligence (AI) and the algorithms that undergird our technologies as well as the steps we can take to create more equitable datasets. This workshop will rely partially on the contributions of participants to create a more inclusionary and interactive algorithm, proposing a data commons approach where anyone can contribute to a training dataset that in turn can be used to power AI.

The data collected during the workshop will contribute to Binary Calculations, an app that aims proactively enlist the public to co-create more nuanced algorithmic possibilities by creating two repositories — one for text and one for image — which will be available for people to use as an alternative to existing data sets.

This program is organized in partnership with Queens Museum New New Yorkers program and Queens Teens Council and will be in English. Limited spaces are available. (Please note there will be an upcoming workshop in Spanish, date forthcoming.)

Participants are requested to bring the following:

• Bring self
• Bring thoughts around what your data means to democracy and/​or governance
• Bring images that are culturally specific and/or meaningful to you to donate to the app
• A laptop or tablet if you have access to one

Pre-Workshop Readings:

• Black data matters: How missing data undermines equitable societies
• Machine Bias: There’s software used across the country to predict future criminals. And it’s biased against Blacks.
• Data, justice and power: how data can light the way to a fairer world

Stephanie Dinkins (b.1964) is a transmedia artist who creates platforms for dialogue about race, gender, aging and our future histories. Dinkins’ art practice employs emerging technologies, documentary practices and social collaboration toward equity and community sovereignty. She is particularly driven to work with communities of color to co-create more equitable, values grounded in social and technological ecosystems. Dinkins is a professor at Stony Brook University where she runs the Future Histories Studio a Mellon Foundation funded multidisciplinary lab.. Dinkins earned an MFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art and is an alumna of the Whitney Independent Studies Program. She exhibits and publicly advocates for inclusive AI internationally at a broad spectrum of community, private and institutional venues. Dinkins is a 2021 United States Artist Fellow and Knight Arts & Tech Fellow. Previous fellowships, residencies and support include the Artist Fellow of the Berggruen Institute and Lucas Artists Fellow in Visual Arts at Montalvo Art Center, CA Onassis Foundation, Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence, Creative Capital, Soros Equality Fellowship, Data and Society Research Institute Fellowship, Sundance New Frontiers Story Lab, Eyebeam, Pioneer Works Tech Lab, NEW INC, Blue Mountain Center; The Laundromat Project, Santa Fe Art Institute and Art/ Omi. The New York Times featured Dinkins in its pages as an AI Influencer. Wired, Art in America, Artsy, Art21, Hyperallergic, the BBC, Wilson Quarterly, and a host of popular podcasts have recently highlighted Dinkins’ art and ideas.