The mission of Women in AI Ethics (WAIE) initiative is to recognize and empower brilliant women working on the ethics of AI.
It was heartening to see many leaders from the 2019 Women in AI Ethics list like Joy Buolamwini, Kathy Baxter, Safiya Noble, Meeri Haataja, and many others who continue to lead the way and set a high bar for this space.
Over 50% of the names on our list for 2020 are new with bright stars like Bahar Sateli, Mutale Nkonde, and Danielle Cass. This is a very encouraging sign as it signals that we are expanding the conversation and not just creating another echo chamber.
While we don’t explicitly track gender, race, ethnicity, or orientation, we prioritize underrepresented groups and this year we are thrilled to recognize women who are leaders in these communities like Timnit Gebru + Rediet Abebe – Black in AI, Natalia Bilenko – Queer in AI, and Elisa Celis – Latinx in AI.
We highlighted women in regions with significant developments in AI Ethics and deserving of recognition – France: Raziye Cetin, Germany: Carla Hustedt, Switzerland: Dorothea Baur, Ireland: Katherine O’Keefe.
While the 2020 list was dominated by US and Europe, we have been able to introduce new voices from underrepresented geographical areas such as Bec Johnson – Australia/New Zealand; Vidushi Marda, Aparna Ashok – India, Fatmah Baothman – Middle East.
We also highlighted experts who focus on East Asia but are based in Europe like Danit Gal and others like Latifa Al-Abdulkarim, who is originally from Saudi Arabia but now resides in the U.K.
You can download the complete 100 Brilliant Women in 2020 list as part of our Diversity + Ethics report for 2020.