Award-winning filmmaker Shalini Kantayya, creator of ‘Coded Bias’ and ‘TikTok, Boom,’ to offer virtual event

LAWRENCE — How do human biases influence the process of developing of emerging technologies? How do resulting technologies threaten the civil rights of individuals and groups of people? These are some of the questions that motivated Shalini Kantayya’s 2020 documentary film, “Coded Bias."

The University of Kansas will welcome the filmmaker for a virtual public talk at 6 p.m. April 30. Kantayya will present “Coded Bias: How Human Prejudice Creates Corrupt Technology" and discuss how technology affects communities’ abilities to live together and what people can do to be educated and aware in this era of rapid technological change. Register to attend the event.

“Critical assessment of how technologies impact individuals and communities should neither begin nor end in university classrooms," said David Tamez, assistant research professor and research program director at the Institute for Information Sciences at the University of Kansas. "Technologies nearly always have indelible impacts on social norms and behaviors — from developing skills as writers to how we protect our privacy. Whether these impacts serve us well depends on being continuously aware and critical of how we relate to the technologies we use. Kantayya’s films 'Coded Bias' and 'TikTok, Boom' offer audiences opportunities to become informed and reflect on the questions emerging technologies pose for all communities.”

In partnership with the University Honors Program, this event will also extend the work of this year's Common Cause initiative.

“Common Cause, our program’s interdisciplinary symposium, is focused on human rights and technology this year,” said Mauricio Gómez Montoya, student experience designer for the University Honors Program. “The chance for our students to continue those conversations with someone like Kantayya is invaluable.”

Kantayya is a Sundance Fellow and a TED Fellow. She was also a finalist for the ABC/Disney Directing Program. A William D. Fulbright Scholar, she has lectured at Princeton, Yale and Stanford, among institutions. She has received recognition from the Sundance Documentary Program, IFP Spotlight on Documentary, New York Women in Film and Television and the Jerome Hill Centennial.

Visit The Commons’ website for further details.