Our internet search results play a crucial role in how we form opinions, says Dr. Safiya Umoja Noble, assistant professor at the USC Annenberg School of Communication.
Think about the last time you searched for a restaurant recommendation: It’s likely you perceived the restaurants that popped up in the top of your search results as the best suggestions. But what happens when our search results have to do with people?
Dr. Noble researches how search engines perpetuate racism and sexism. She found that top search results are often harmful towards women and people of color.
Her book, Algorithms of Oppression: How Search Engines Reinforce Racism, explores the ways corporations can own and engineer internet search results.
That’s just one of the ways that technology is changing our relationship with humanity. She stopped by the Thrive Global office to discuss her work — watch her explain her research in the video below.