Ethics is not glamorous work. It is painstakingly hard to define what ethical or responsible technologies look like, let alone build the necessary frameworks to nudge biased and self-serving organizations to follow the ethical yellow brick road. It’s an open dirty secret that no one gets awards for slowing things down by doing the right thing in the tech world, least of all women and people of color who are already victims of systemic gender and racist bias.
We’re seeing growing instances of retaliation by big tech against women who have spoken out against unethical use of AI technology. This makes it even more imperative that we support women who are championing the ethical cause even at the risk to their own jobs and well-being.
The mission of Women in AI Ethics (WAIE) is to recognize, encourage, and empower diverse voices of women working on the ethics of AI and related disciplines such as algorithmic bias, privacy, sustainability, etc. We published the 100 Brilliant Women list for 2020 and launched the WAIE online directory in late 2019. While it was heartening to see that 50% of the names on the list were promising new voices, we also noticed critical gaps in representation from regions like Africa, Australia, and Asia.
To support our vision for true inclusion and diversity in 2020, we’ve made regional expansion a key priority and to fulfill that mission, we’ve identified and nominated regional chapter leaders to raise awareness and nominate amazing women working in AI Ethics in their region.
Women in AI Ethics Regional Chapter Leaders are ambassadors who support the WAIE mission by spreading awareness and nominating more women from their regional communities for the Women in AI Ethics (WAIE) directory. They provide feedback on the WAIE initiative and making it more impactful. They host regular events to support women/diversity and ethics in AI. They share regional news and developments with the community to raise awareness of issues in AI Ethics that impact regional communities. They share regional practices with the broader AI Ethics community so we can continue to make progress.
The length of commitment for regional chapter leadership is 6 months with the option to renew every January and July.
Meet the Regional Chapter Leaders
IRELAND
Máirín Murray @mairinmurray
Tech for Good Evangelist Tech for Good Dublin, TechFoundHer
Máirín Murray is a highly creative digital innovator with a passion for creating technical products that produce a positive social impact. She is a TEDx speaker and co-founder of Tech for Good Dublin – an inclusive community of techies, activists and others which has been growing rapidly since it launched in 2017. Máirín is a Philosophy graduate from Trinity College and has a keen interest in the ethical dimensions of technical innovations particularly AI. http://www.techforgooddublin.org
JAPAN
Arisa Ema
Project Assistant Professor at the University of Tokyo and Visiting Researcher at RIKEN Center for Advanced Intelligence Project in Japan.
Arisa Ema is a researcher in Science and Technology Studies (STS), and her primary interest is to investigate the benefits and risks of artificial intelligence by organizing an interdisciplinary research group. She is a member of the Ethics Committee of the Japanese Society for Artificial Intelligence (JSAI), which released the JSAI Ethical Guidelines in 2017 and also a board member of the Japan Deep Learning Association (JDLA) and chairing Public Affairs Committee. https://arisaema0.wordpress.com/cv/
SPAIN
Emilia Gómez @emiliagogu
Lead Scientist, HUMAINT project, at Centre for Advanced Studies, Joint Research Centre (EC) & Music Technology Group, Universitat Pompeu Fabra
Lead Scientist for HUMAINT (HUman Behavior and MAchine INTelligence in the Digital Transformation) lab at the Joint Research Centre, European Commission. Associate Professor (Serra-Húnter and ICREA Academia fellow) and Deputy Director (Doctorate) of the Department of Information and Communication Technologies (DTIC), Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF). Lead for the MIR (Music Information Research) lab of the Music Technology Group (MTG). http://emiliagomez.com
UNITED KINGDOM
Jun Zhao @junszhao
Senior Researcher, University of Oxford
Senior Research Fellow in the Department of Computer Science at Oxford University with research focus on investigating the impact of digital technologies upon young children’s lives and how we could best support them. https://sites.google.com/site/junzhaohome
UNITED STATES – EAST COAST
Renée Cummings @CummingsRenee
Founder and CEO – Urban AI
A criminologist, AI strategist, urban technologist and international consultant, specializing in urban AI, ethical AI adoption, AI leadership, diversity, equity and inclusion in AI development and deployment, algorithmic authenticity and accountability, data integrity and equity, AI for social good and social justice in AI policy and governance. Passionate about using AI to design real time resilient solutions to urban challenges, Committed to deploying AI to empower and sustainably transform cities, communities, cultures, and organizations; securing full participation of citizens in the 4IR, helping companies navigate the AI landscape and developing future AI leaders. https://www.linkedin.com/in/renéecummings
FRANCE
Buse Çetin @BuseCett
AI Policy Researcher at The Future Society
Leading research projects on social and economic impact of AI across a wide range of sectors (finance, energy, public services) and disciplines (political science, economics, sociology, ethical philosophy). Co-authoring subsequent research (to be published). Advising governments and international development banks such as the World Bank on AI adoption strategy by conducting multidisciplinary research, analysis and expert interviews. Moderating and speaking at panels organised by international organisations including OECD and UNESCO on AI and development, and AI ethics. https://www.linkedin.com/in/busecetin/
INDIA
Aparna Ashok @aparnaashok
AI Ethics Researcher, Tech Anthropologist and Service Designer
Tech anthropologist and service designer with a background in design strategy and social entrepreneurship. Working towards a future that leverages emerging technologies to move towards the collective good. Where passionate, committed people (machines welcome too) from different disciplines come together to solve large-scale ‘wicked’ problems we face as a society. Uncovers human needs, facilitate collaboration and design technology-enabled services that deliver meaningful experiences. https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashokaparna/
GERMANY
Carla Hustedt @CarlaHustedt
Project Lead “Ethics of Algorithms” at Bertelsmann Stiftung
“Ethics of Algorithms“ project takes close look at the consequences of algorithmic decision-making in society with the goal of ensuring that these systems are used to serve society. We aim to help inform and advance algorithmic systems that facilitate greater social inclusion. This involves committing to what is best for a society rather than what’s technically possible – so that machine-informed decisions can best serve humankind. The project focuses on three areas: Awareness-raising, Structure the debate, and Develop solutions. https://www.linkedin.com/in/carlahustedt/
Centuries of global gender inequalities and systemic biases that are now showing up in our AI systems will not be overcome through half-baked measures. It’s up to each one of us to recognize and empower the hidden figures from our communities working on these important ethical issues. It will take all of us working together to build a more ethical, diverse, and equitable future for everyone.
If you would like to represent your region/city/country as a chapter leader or need more information, please email us DiversityinAI at Gmail dot com. We would love to hear from you!