5 Things / Spellcheck

When a system is redesigned so that inclusion is the default, there's less risk of human bias. (That's why Inclusive 360 is so focused on systems change.) But in order to change the systems, we have to identify the areas of opportunity. That's of the reasons I've been so impressed by Geena Davis's Institute for Gender in Media and its Spellcheck for Bias program, developed in partnership with USC. The program uses artificial intelligence to analyze film and television scripts for diversity (originally gender diversity).


After a successful pilot at NBCUniversal that analyzed and increased Latine representation in content, the program is being expanded to analyze the representation of characters and percentage of dialogue by gender, race, LGBTQIA, disabilities, Age 50+ and Body Type.


The Geena Davis Institute also recently worked with Lego to interview children and audit Lego products to address gender stereotypes and establish a more inclusive path forward in product design and marketing


This matters because stereotypes in media and product design lead to stereotypes everywhere else. 
Diversity in media and products can generate beautiful possibility models for younger folks. Personally, it simply astounds me how beautifully LGBTQ+ stories are told now, and it seems like we've come so far, just in my lifetime, but the reality is that the percentage of LGBTQ representation went down this year, so there's a lot more work to be done to tell the stories of underrepresented folks. Spellcheck for Bias is an important step. 


Here are some of the other good vibes I learned this week:


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