From Artificial Intelligence Bias to Inequality in the Time of COVID-19

Abstract

As secretary general of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres said during the 2020 Nelson Mandela Annual Lecture, “COVID-19 has been likened to an X-ray, revealing fractures in the fragile skeleton of the societies we have built.” Without a doubt, the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed and exacerbated existing global inequalities. Whether at the local, national, or international scale, the gap between the privileged and the vulnerable is growing wider, resulting in a broad increase in inequality across all dimensions of society. The disease has strained health systems, social support programs, and the economy as a whole, drawing an ever-widening distinction between those with access to treatment, services, and job opportunities and those without. Global lockdown restrictions have led to increases in childcare and housework responsibilities, and most of the burden has fallen on women, further increasing existing gender inequality [1], [2]. Indigenous populations worldwide find themselves more vulnerable to infection, many times with less access to health services or hygiene measures and limited updated scientific information about the virus and measures that can be taken to mitigate it [3]. Inequality has also pervaded the education sector, with only a subset of students able to attend safe in-person schooling or access online education when needed.