AI at Work: Empowering Individuals with Disabilities through Adaptive Technologies

llustration by Clarice Frude for Girls For Business

Since AI will become as integrated into our society as calculators are integral to math class, it’s crucial to address the effect of Artificial Intelligence (AI) on the workforce. Not just those in service industries and their fears of being replaced, but the addition to the workforce that AI can provide through the bridge of technology between people with disabilities and entering the workforce.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, “[a]cross all age groups, persons with a disability were much less likely to be employed than those with no disability, the unemployment rate for persons with a disability was about twice as high as the rate for persons without a disability; [and] employed persons with a disability were more likely to be self-employed than those with no disability.”

However, new AI technology is being developed to bridge gaps and open new opportunities for people with disabilities through technology such as Gnosys, “which uses neural networks and computer vision to translate gestures into text and speech instantly for those who are deaf and mute.” Technology like this gives individuals the ability to communicate with others such as their friends and family, as well as fulfilling important communication needs through employment.

But even with this technology, it doesn’t address the fact that people with disabilities weren’t being hired in the first place. Because it might be challenging to prove you can do a job when you never even get chosen.

These problems occurred through hiring algorithms, first created by human biases, then exacerbated through “neutral” robots. As discussed by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), For example, computer tests may be used only to measure “the relevant skills and abilities of an applicant, rather than reflecting the applicant’s impaired sensory, manual, or speaking skills that the tests do not seek to measure.”

In order to confront this, algorithms have been made specifically in mind for marginalized populations such as people with disabilities, in order to gain equal access to job opportunities. AI Accessibility, a $25 million initiative launched in 2018 that supports AI and machine learning (ML) solutions to improve independence and inclusion, as well as to create new types of assistive technology for those who live with disabilities, was funded by Microsoft and projects like these continue to impact diversity and acceptance to this day.

Yet now that we can recognize that people with disabilities have the bridge to get hired, as well as the skills to keep the job, it seems to see that there are multiple benefits of having diversity within the workplace and community.

The limited availability of jobs for people with disabilities adds value to any inclusive job, typically resulting in less conflict, yet this has also worked to decrease absenteeism and increase productivity.

As proved, “[a] study conducted by the Institute for Corporate Productivity found that employees with developmental disabilities contributed to higher productivity, lower absenteeism, and increased customer loyalty. Employees with disabilities can also offer creativity, innovation, and varied perspectives on how to confront challenges and get a job done.”

While corporations and hiring offices continue to disregard this message and the benefits of having a diverse workforce, more people with disabilities suffer beyond their condition, but rather a rejection of society which is arguably worse.

Yet through AI technology that incorporates disabled people in the hiring as well as supplementing actions that individuals may no longer be able to do, a future is bright with showers of inclusivity if only we follow the right direction.