Olay’s #DeCodetheBias Campaign Strives to Combat Biased Al Beauty Algorithms

Olay is holding its own AI functions accountable in a new initiative to combat hidden bias in beauty algorithms. Following is what the brand’s #DecodetheBias campaign entails and how its effort to unearth bias in data sets supports more inclusive coding practices, according to an article in AdExchanger.

Olay’s campaign, which coincides with National Coding Week, has the goal of sending at least 1,000 women of color to code camp through a partnership with Black Girls CODE. The idea is to change who is doing the coding—and therefore influence beauty algorithms that Olay has revealed are perpetuating monolithic beauty standards. The campaign includes national TV spots and print ads and also encourages other brands to examine bias within their own data sets.

The brand analyzed its own technology, a web-based tool that relies on selfies to recommend skin care products, to uncover bias—and, importantly, rectify it. After partnering with ORCAA, an organization that audits algorithm risk, the company found that its Olay Skin Advisor tool was less precise depending on age and less accurate for people with darker skin tones.

A key part of the campaign is supporting a more diverse talent pool within businesses. Because “as more women and women of color become coders,” Headley told AdExchanger, “we’ll get better code and more inclusive code.”

For more detail on Olay’s #DecodetheBias campaign, read on in AdExchanger.