All posts tagged: biases

Exploring Cognitive Biases and Modern Irrationality

Exploring Cognitive Biases and Modern Irrationality

Published by skeptic

The Age of Magical Overthinking: Notes on Modern Irrationality by Amanda Montell I know that when I pick up an Amanda Montell book I’m in for a good time. Her previous books include Wordslut and Cultish, both of which have this delightful tone like Montell is sitting across from you with a cup of coffee. You’re going to have a fun conversation, but Montell isn’t going to hold back. She’s going to put the truth out there. The Age of Magical Overthinking tackles ideas around how human beings try to “manifest” a reality that is most likely not going to happen. The chapters are organized around thought fallacies, like the “Sunk Cost Fallacy,” which can keep us holding onto projects, goals, or relationships that aren’t working for us. Or the “Halo Effect” which can make us always assume the best about our favorite singers and other celebrities. Like her other two books, The Age of Magical Overthinking is conversational. Its witty asides and healthy dose of snark make for a perfect pairing with Montell’s ideas. …

Study challenges the conventional wisdom about anti-women gender biases in STEM

Study challenges the conventional wisdom about anti-women gender biases in STEM

Published by José

Are women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) careers finally on equal footing with men? A comprehensive new study spearheaded by researchers Stephen J. Ceci from Cornell University, Shulamit Kahn from Boston University, and Wendy M. Williams, also from Cornell University, provides a pivotal update on the state of gender bias within academia’s tenure-track positions. This research, published in the journal Psychological Science in the Public Interest, provides evidence that the academic landscape is showing significant strides towards equality, with women now as likely as men to secure grant funding, publish research, and receive strong letters of recommendation. However, the study also uncovers areas where disparities remain, specifically in teaching evaluations and salary, highlighting the nuanced nature of progress in STEM fields. Unveiling the Motivation Behind the Study This extensive research was born out of a necessity to provide a balanced and evidence-based view on gender bias in academia, amidst a backdrop of often conflicting and ideologically charged discourse. By employing an adversarial collaboration approach, the researchers engaged in a rigorous years-long process of …

Combatting Neurotypical Biases in Hiring: Autism and the benefits of inclusion

Combatting Neurotypical Biases in Hiring: Autism and the benefits of inclusion

Published by skeptic

In a recent article for Psychology Today, Jennifer Gerlach notes that, according to a 2019 study by A. M. Mai, 83% of autistic adults in 2017 were unemployed. That number may sound improbably high, yet Paolo Peralta cites evidence that up to 85% of diagnosed autistics with a college education are unemployed as of late 2023. Higher-functioning autistics may be more likely to be employed without being diagnosed, a fact that may not be reflected in these studies. Nonetheless, this disparity is concerning. Unemployment is the source of numerous social problems. I will present three reasons why we should prioritize increasing autistic employment. First, it would reduce rates of homelessness among autistics and increase their standard of living more generally. Second, it would increase the quality of life for autistics by providing them with social status and recognition for their achievements, which may prove considerable as research suggests autistics have uniquely valuable contributions to make to the economy. Third, it would increase diversity within workforces, which has a net positive impact on efficiency and innovation. …

how unconscious biases can impact who you think is guilty

how unconscious biases can impact who you think is guilty

Published by skeptic

This article contains spoilers for the first five episodes of season two of The Traitors. Subterfuge, betrayal, murder and money abound in the BBC hit series The Traitor’s, now in it’s second season. It’s no surprise that it has become a huge hit. The basic premise of the show is that you have “the faithful” and “the traitors”. The game hinges on everyone presenting themselves as a faithful, but with the knowledge that there will be at least one traitor among them. If the faithful manage to identify all traitors then they will share the £120,000 jackpot. However, if by the end of the game there are any traitors left, they will steal the jackpot from the faithful. Once a day there is a “round table” discussion where players discuss who they think may be a traitor and vote to banish someone. This is particularly important given that each night the traitors can “murder” a faithful, who does not return to the game the following day. However, this process is unlikely to rely solely on …

How rape myths and unconscious biases prejudice the judicial system against women — and rape survivors in particular

How rape myths and unconscious biases prejudice the judicial system against women — and rape survivors in particular

Published by skeptic

It is well documented that women who are sexually assaulted, or raped, rarely report the crime to the police. The US charity, the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network, has shown that one in six women in the US has been the victim of rape or attempted rape, yet two in three rapes go unreported. For women under 25, that figure drops to one in five. In the UK, these figures are similarly bleak. The Victims’ Commissioner for England and Wales notes that, in the year to December 2021, the police recorded 67,125 rape offences. And yet the charity Rape Crisis says five in six women who are raped don’t report it. Many factors feed into why women do not report such crimes. The primary reason, however, is the lack of trust many express in the policing and legal systems. My research looks at how social inequalities and implicit biases impact legal decisions. Even when jury members and police officers believe they are acting without prejudice, which is more overt and forceful, they cannot avoid …

Weights & Biases, which counts OpenAI as a customer, lands M

Weights & Biases, which counts OpenAI as a customer, lands $50M

Published by skeptic

One of the more prolific AI and machine learning development platforms, Weights & Biases has secured a new tranche of cash from ex-GitHub CEO Nat Friedman and former Y Combinator partner Daniel Gross. Friedman and Gross, alongside existing investors Coatue, Insight Partners, Felicis, Bond, BloombergBeta and Sapphire, have invested $50 million in Weights & Biases in a strategic round that values the company at $1.25 billion. Bringing the startup’s total raised to $250 million, the investment comes as Weights & Biases prepares to launch Prompts, a new product designed to help users monitor and evaluate the performance of large language models (LLMs) along the lines of OpenAI’s GPT-4. The $50 million investment is far smaller than Weights & Biases’ previous haul, its Series C, which came in at around $135 million. But Lavanya Shukla, VP of growth at Weights & Biases, described it as opportunistic. “We believe that giving employees machine learning tools should be table-stakes for CTOs and their teams,” he told TechCrunch in an email interview. “By tackling testing, security and reliability, Weights …

Mitigating AI biases in healthcare with Amy Brown from Authenticx

Mitigating AI biases in healthcare with Amy Brown from Authenticx

Published by skeptic

Welcome back to Found, where we get the stories behind the startups. This week Becca and Dom are joined by Amy Brown, the co-founder and CEO of Authenticx, a Midwestern startup that helps insurance companies and medical organizations extract data from their call centers using AI. Amy told Becca and Dom about how her background working in the same call centers inspired her to foray into entrepreneurship. She also talked about the sacrifices and very human side of being an entrepreneur and how they were very intentional when building their AI model. Subscribe to Found to hear more stories from founders each week. Connect with us: On Twitter On Instagram Via email: [email protected] Source link