Date of Award

Spring 2026

Document Type

Thesis

First Advisor

Erica Krueger

Abstract

The rise of technology has opened up new opportunities and ways of seeing the world. While technology has brought significant contributions to humanity, there has also been an increase in algorithmic bias within digital tools, including Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems. Some of these contemporary challenges include new forms of discrimination and racism toward people of African descent with darker skin tone complexions. This research investigates how the underrepresentation of Black and other racialized individuals in technology, specifically in digital tools and applications, contributes to digital inequities. Due to the lack of accurate representation, we investigated user experiences and how these inequities harm people of Black, Brown and other people of color. Thus, this investigation raises critical questions about technological fairness study and digital equity. This study examines how high-tech biases are perceived and experienced by racialized populations, and the inequities in user experience and services that they create. The accomplishments of this research were the examination of how artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies contribute to digital discrimination and systemic racism, and how poorly trained models contribute to digital inequality. Lastly, we examined technology-related biases through usability testing, structured observation, and data-driven analysis.

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