Forbes named Dr. Rumman Chowdhury as one of the “Five Who are Shaping AI”. She is a pioneer in the field of responsible and ethical AI, focusing on creating solutions that ensure mankind benefit from this technology. She was the Director of META (ML Ethics, Transparency, and Accountability) at Twitter, before Elon Musk took over, where she led a team of applied researchers and engineers to identify and mitigate algorithmic harms on the platform. She was previously Founder and CEO of Parity, an enterprise algorithmic audit platform company.
In this interview, Rumman Chowdhury explores a concept she coined “moral outsourcing” – when we humanise AI – and the problems associated with this. Chowdhury states that, “any of the outcomes from artificial intelligence happen because human beings coded them in”. Rumman Chowdhury discusses her time as Director of META at Twitter, and the important work she did.
As a well-respected mind in the AI space, she shares her goals, “to ensure that every AI product is being built with ethics in mind and with humanity first”. Questions that need to be heavily considered are; “how should laws be reshaped in society? How can regular people understand how AI is impacting them?”. In this quickly evolving space, how will companies be held responsible if their AI systems harm people?
It is crucial that governments and corporations implement responsible and safe AI practices – Chowdhury talks about how this can be achieved. Having worked with Fortune 500 leaders and companies on a global scale, her advice was similar to them all, one point being that “AI is just a product that you implement… your goals and values should always be first”.
Video Timeline
- 00:16 – Who are you and what do you do?
- 00:45 – What is moral outsourcing, and how can we combat the problems associated with this?
- 01:24 – Twitter has been in the middle of a huge media storm recently. Many users left the platform. Are you optimistic or concerned about the future of ethics and free speech?
- 02:25 – Forbes named you as one of Five Who are Shaping AI. How do you intend to do so, and how can we build machines that serve humanity?
- 03:13 – What can governments and corporations do to ensure responsible AI?
- 04:20 -During these uncertain times, what message do you have for corporations and leaders?
- 05:12 – AI is trendier than ever, what’s the latest in the space?
- 06:38 – What is next for you?
Interested in booking Rumman Chowdhury as a keynote speaker or boardroom advisor?
