(CNN) Using artificial intelligence and archival news articles, teenagers in Northern Virginia created a program to measure media bias, researched older news articles to found black murder victims less likely to be humanized in news reports.
Emily OcasioAn 18-year-old girl from Falls Church, Virginia, analyzed FBI murder records from 1976 to 1984 and corresponding reports published in The Boston Globe to determine whether victims were presented in a humane way. , created an AI program to determine if it was presented in an inhuman way.
After analyzing 5,042 entries, result indicated that 30% were black men under the age of 18 less likely to receive humane coverage Ocasio told CNN. Black women are 23 percent less likely to be humanized in news stories, Ocasio added.
In his presentation of the project, Ocasio referred to additional information about the victims, and news articles that presented them “as people, not just statistics” were seen as humanized.
Her findings have not been reviewed by the larger scientific community, but she told CNN she hopes to expand her research and publish it in scientific journals.
Ocasio’s project is the famous Regeneron Science Talent Search On March 14, as well as a $175,000 scholarship.
About 1,900 high school students from all over Japan participate in this contest every year. The competition began in his 1942 and aims to serve as a platform for young scientists to share their own research.
Ocasio’s project won second place in the Regeneron Science Talent Search.
Ocasio was selected as one of 40 finalists out of over 2,000 submissions, according to. Maya AjmeraPresident and CEO of Society for Science, executive publisher of Science News, and two of the competition’s sponsors.
“By using AI to document these biases, Emily shows that society can safely use them to answer complex social science questions,” says the Society for Science website. Her biography states:
Ocasio said he has always been interested in social justice and science and sees this project as an opportunity to combine them. “Without research and statistics, it’s impossible for an entire community to understand that they are being left behind,” she said.
Ocasio analyzed news reports from The Boston Globe. Because this newspaper had her digital copies of the articles from her 70’s and 80’s that she focused on for the project. CNN reached out to The Boston Globe for comment.
Despite her findings, Ocasio believes science cannot explain everything.
Originally from Puerto Rico, Ocasio says her experiences helped shape her perspectives on different races and cultures, leading her to study racism and inequality. She hopes to replicate her own research to analyze other news outlets.
1st place in talent search, Neal Mougaltold CNN that surveys conducted by teens across the country are vital to solving some of society’s biggest challenges.
Neel Moudgal wins 1st place in Regeneron Science Talent Search.
“I am a firm believer that science can be the solution to many of our problems,” Maudgar said. His award-winning project was a computer model that predicted the structure of RNA molecules to help test and develop drugs for diseases such as cancer, autoimmune diseases, and viral infections.
Ajmera said seeing projects like this by high school students gives her “great hope for the future”.
“We are looking for future scientific leaders for this country,” she said.
