By Priyanka Boghani

Artificial intelligence has already started to shape our lives in ubiquitous and occasionally invisible ways. In its new documentary, In The Age of AI, FRONTLINE examines the promise and peril this technology. AI systems are being deployed by hiring managers, courts, law enforcement, and hospitals — sometimes without the knowledge of the people being screened. And while these systems were initially lauded for being more objective than humans, it’s fast becoming clear that the algorithms harbor bias, too.

It’s an issue Joy Buolamwini, a graduate researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, knows about firsthand. She founded the Algorithmic Justice League to draw attention to the issue, and earlier this year she testified at a congressional hearing on the impact of facial recognition technology on civil rights.