UC Berkeley computer scientist Emma Pierson believes we can use AI to improve our healthcare and criminal justice systems — but only if we design these algorithms with an eye toward equality. When Pierson was an undergraduate studying physics at Stanford University, she learned that her mother was a carrier of the BRCA1 gene mutation. Pierson had a 50% chance of also having the mutation, which confers a high risk of breast and ovarian cancers. Genetic testing later confirmed that Pierson was also a carrier. Now, Pierson is developing AI and machine learning methods for medicine and the social sciences, with the goal of improving health care and reducing social inequality. “I am trying to use AI to make a healthier and fairer world,” Pierson said. Recently, she developed a new test for detecting racial discrimination in policing. She is also working to reduce racial and gender bias in algorithms, particularly those that are used to assess disease risk and make critical decisions abo...