Abeba Birhane facts for kids

Abeba Birhane is a smart scientist from Ethiopia. She studies how our brains work (that's cognitive science) and how computers learn (that's computer science). She's especially interested in making sure that computer programs, like those that use machine learning, are fair to everyone. This is called looking at "algorithmic bias" and how technology affects different groups of people.

Abeba Birhane and another scientist named Vinay Prabhu discovered something important. They found that some very large collections of images, which are used to teach AI systems, had unfair or even offensive labels. Because of their work, one of these big image collections, called "80 Million Tiny Images," was taken down.

She has been recognized as a top innovator in computer vision and was even named one of the 100 most influential people in AI in 2023 by TIME magazine.

Early Life and Learning

Abeba Birhane was born in Ethiopia. She went to The Open University and earned degrees in Psychology and Philosophy. Later, she continued her studies at University College Dublin. In 2015, she got her Master's degree in Cognitive Science. Then, in 2021, she earned her Ph.D. from the School of Computer Science at the same university.

Her Work and Discoveries

Abeba Birhane studies how new AI technologies affect people and communities. She found that sometimes, AI programs can treat certain groups unfairly. This can happen to older workers, transgender people, immigrants, and even children.

Her research on how we should think about fairness in technology won an award in 2019. She has also looked at how big companies might use AI in ways that aren't fair to local communities or developing countries. Her work helps to make sure that computer systems don't repeat old unfairness, especially towards women of color.

In 2020, Abeba Birhane and Vinay Prabhu published an important paper. They looked closely at how large image collections, like ImageNet and MIT's "80 Million Tiny Images," were put together. These collections are used to train thousands of AI programs. They found that these datasets contained many unfair and offensive labels and images. Because of their findings, MIT decided to remove the "80 Million Tiny Images" dataset.

More recently, Abeba Birhane has worked with other researchers to study why it's hard to share data in Africa. They found that there are often big power differences when data is shared, even if the data comes from Africa itself. Their research was shared at a big computer science conference.

In 2024, Abeba Birhane started a new research group at Trinity College Dublin called the AI Accountability Lab. This lab focuses on making sure AI systems are fair and responsible.

Awards She Has Won

• 2019 NeurIPS Black in AI Workshop Best Paper Award
• 2020 Venture Beat AI Innovations Award for Computer Vision Innovation (with Vinay Prabhu)
• 2021 Honored in the 100 Brilliant Women in AI Ethics Hall of Fame
• 2022 Lero Director’s Prize for PhD/PostDoctoral Contribution
• 2023 Named one of the 100 Most Influential People in AI by TIME magazine