A woman with South Asian heritage claimed she couldn’t make bookings through Airbnb due to AI being unable to match two images of her, increasing the concerns surrounding AI biases. Francesca Dias from Sydney couldn’t make an account with Airbnb because she failed its AI’s identity verification process, she told a panel on ABC’s Q+A. One of the ways Airbnb confirms the identity of users is by matching a photo from the user’s government ID – a passport or driver’s license – to a selfie the customer provides. Dias claimed
Laphonza Butler has been sworn in to fill the Senate seat of the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who passed away last week at age 90. California Gov. Gavin Newsom had selected Laphonza Butler to succeed Feinstein, the longest-serving female senator in history. Butler, the former president of EMILY’s List, is known for her work as a union leader but was also a director at Airbnb and advised Uber during its conflict over workers’ rights. A historic appointment Butler is now the third female Black senator in US history. She is also
Airbnb has announced Google’s Senior Vice President of Research, Tech and Society, James Manyika, is joining its Board of Directors. Meet James Manyika Zimbabwe-born Manyika is Senior Vice President of Google’s Research, Tech and Society Team, a role which includes overseeing Google Labs and Google Research. Manyika is a graduate of both the University of Zimbabwe and the University of Oxford, where he holds two master’s degrees and a PhD in AI and Robotics. He also was a senior partner at McKinsey & Co. and sat as the chairman and
It’s 2022. Why are people still renting out slave cabins? In a long overdue statement, Airbnb has announced they will no longer allow people to list or rent properties previously used to house enslaved people. Airbnb’s “1830 Slave Cabin” According to BuzzFeed News, Airbnb came under fire earlier in July for listing an “1830s slave cabin” on their website. Five months later, the company will finally remove all slavery-related listings from its website. The vacation rental site has stated that any listing of a plantation residence that “existed during the time
