The Linux Foundation Member Summit 2021

There is no question that bias (conscious or unconscious) in the workplace and in hiring practices exists today. And as the world of work continues to make positive steps towards including people from more diverse backgrounds, combating bias is becoming more critical than ever. Now consider that the future of work is leading to more distributed workforces from a global talent pool, using collaboration technologies to work remotely. This means you might never physically meet the people you work with or hire-the only interaction you may have is online. This creates an interesting opportunity because the technology exists to create an online version of someone - effectively creating any identity you want for them. In this scenario, deepfake technology (commonly perceived as bad) could actually be used for good - people would not know if someone is white, black, asian, male, female. Using this together with other complementary technologies such as multi-factor authentication to ensure you can actually confirm that person’s identity you could effectively remove or significantly limit bias in work environments and hiring practices. Sounds far-fetched? It could be closer than you think.