Dr. avriel epps

a kids book about ai bias

Published by DK

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ROSIE BOYD // PUBLICIST

CARTER MCELROY // DIGITAL MARKETING LEAD

MARGO TREADWELL // DIGITAL MARKETING

Computational social scientist, researcher, and public educator Dr. Avriel Epps (she/they) released her new book A Kids Book About AI Bias. Published by DK as part of their A Kids Book About (AKBA) series, the children’s book breaks down what artificial intelligence is and how it can reflect human-created biases, and how we can address this to create a more fair, just world. Designed for kids aged 5-9, the book was inspired by parenting Epps’ own six-year-old and years of research, which illuminates the impact of algorithm design and computer-mediated social expectations on youths’ beliefs and behavior. Dr. Epps has studied how young people’s racial, gender, and sociopolitical identity development is influenced by bias in digital products, exploring the tarnished connection between technology, society, and social hierarchies.

About Dr. Avriel Epps

Dr. Avriel Epps completed her PhD at Harvard University in Education with a concentration in Human Development. They hold a Master of Science in Data Science from Harvard’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and a BA in Communication Studies from UCLA, and are a Civic Science Postdoctoral Fellow at the Cornell University CAT Lab. Epps is also a contributor to The Atlantic where they cover race and technology.

At Harvard, where Epps studied data science and child development (and eventually taught classes on the subject), she sought insight into how tech and AI advancements affect us. The takeaway: AI isn’t magic, but rather a result of the data we ask it to “learn” so we can control its bias. Their new book A Kids Book About AI Bias is a first step to setting our most vulnerable – our children – on this path to agency. Featuring a large and bold, yet minimalist font with a friendly, approachable, empowering, and child-appropriate tone throughout, Dr. Epps says, “I’m hoping that parents can come to the book with as much curiosity and beginner energy as children do, and not be intimidated by the topic.”

Dr. Avriel Epps pens in the first pages of A Kids Book About AI Bias, “You deserve a say in the technology creating our world.” Rather than fearing the unknown, her message is grounded in the power of the collective and individuals: encouraging kids and parents to critically examine biases. To that end, they say, “The most inspiring activists and organizers in the space, for me, are actual children.”