---
title: "UMD Co-leads $750K NSF, Amazon Project to Tackle AI Bias in Mapping"
date: 2022-07-20T05:30:00-04:00
author: University of Maryland
canonical_url: "https://today.umd.edu/umd-co-leads-750k-nsf-amazon-project-to-tackle-ai-bias-in-mapping"
section: Articles
---
# UMD Co-leads $750K NSF, Amazon Project to Tackle AI Bias in Mapping

*July 20, 2022* — by [Rachael Grahame ’17](/author/rachael-keeney-17)


> System Could Enable Fairer, Safer Decisions on Resource Distribution

*Dreamstime xxl 158762389 1920x1080 — A farmer tends crops in Uganda, an area where bias in AI algorithms monitoring global crop health might misinterpret data due to a lack of knowledge of local growing methods.*

The accelerating demand for maps to guide product deliveries, respond to natural disasters or monitor food crops globally can no longer be met manually, requiring automated systems that use artificial intelligence (AI) to handle vast quantities of data from satellites and other sensors.

But as disturbing episodes with [chatbots](https://spectrum.ieee.org/in-2016-microsofts-racist-chatbot-revealed-the-dangers-of-online-conversation)and [facial recognition](https://www.theregreview.org/2021/03/20/saturday-seminar-facing-bias-in-facial-recognition-technology/) systems that exhibited racism or other forms of bias illustrate, AI itself can take a wrong turn.

Now, supported by a $750,000 [Fairness in Artificial Intelligence](https://beta.nsf.gov/funding/opportunities/nsf-program-fairness-artificial-intelligence-collaboration-amazon) award—a program co-sponsored by the National Science Foundation and Amazon—University of Maryland researchers Yiqun Xie and Sergii Skakun are working with the University of Pittsburgh on a three-year research project to reduce AI bias in mapping algorithms.


*pixel map — A satellite image of California farms (top) contrasts with an AI-generated crop map (bottom) that humans need to review and label to keep AI algorithms free from bias. Two boxes on the left show areas where labels appear in-line with the satellite image; boxes on the right show areas where there are mismatches. (Visual by Yiqun Xie. Images courtesy of ArcGIS World Imagery basemap, top, and the USDA Cropland Data Layer, bottom.)*




**Topics:** [Research](https://today.umd.edu/tags/research)


**Tags:** [Artificial Intelligence](https://today.umd.edu/topic/artificial-intelligence), [Geographical Sciences](https://today.umd.edu/topic/geographical-sciences), [Research](https://today.umd.edu/topic/research)


**Units:** [College of Behavioral and Social Sciences](https://today.umd.edu/topic/college-behavioral-and-social-sciences), [College of Information](https://today.umd.edu/topic/college-information-studies)