Diverse perspectives are critical for ethical AI

It is widely acknowledged that Ada Lovelace, born in the 19th century, was the first computer programmer but her contributions and that of many other brilliant women in science and technology have been erased and attributed to men. Even today, diverse voices in the male-dominated tech industry are overlooked and non-traditional backgrounds dismissed as "not techy enough". During a recent podcast series in collaboration with IBM, I had the opportunity to meet amazing women from multi-disciplinary backgrounds in key AI and technology roles at the tech giant. Their non-typical backgrounds give them an unique ability to identify opportunities as well as ethical gaps in AI that would be otherwise missed. Here are some highlights from our wide-ranging conversations that remind us of the critical importance of non-traditional backgrounds in technology.