© 2024 WYPR
WYPR 88.1 FM Baltimore WYPF 88.1 FM Frederick WYPO 106.9 FM Ocean City
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
WYPO 106.9 Eastern Shore is off the air due to routine tower work being done daily from 8a-5p. We hope to restore full broadcast days by 12/15. All streams are operational

A.I. & Race: Will future technology include racial equity?

Dr. Timnit Gebru is an Ethiopian-born American computer scientist and the founder and executive director of the Distributed AI Research Institute (DAIR), which works to address ethical and equity issues of this burgeoning technology. (photo courtesy Timnit Gebru)
(photo courtesy Dr. Timnit Gebru)
Dr. Timnit Gebru is an Ethiopian-born American computer scientist and the founder and executive director of the Distributed AI Research Institute (DAIR), which works to address ethical and equity issues of this burgeoning technology. (photo courtesy Timnit Gebru)

Today, a conversation about equity and AI. Tom's guest is Dr. Timnit Gebru, a computer scientist and tech expert who is working to reduce the negative effects of artificial intelligence.

In 2021, Dr. Gebru founded the Distributed AI Research Institute (DAIR), a non-profit she currently serves as executive director. Before that, she was employed at Google, where she co-led the Ethical Artificial Intelligence research team. She was fired in 2020 — although the company insists she resigned — after a dispute with Google about its suppression of some of her research, and her criticism of the company’s diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies. She had previously done ground-breaking work at Apple and Microsoft.

Dr. Gebru is also the co-founder of Black in AI, a nonprofit whose stated mission is "to increase the presence, inclusion, visibility and health of Black people in the field of AI."

Dr. Timnit Gebru joined us on Zoom from San Francisco.

A reminder that because our show was pre-recorded, we can’t take any new calls or comments.

Stay Connected
Host, Midday (M-F 12:00-1:00)
Teria is a Supervising Producer on Midday.
Sam Bermas-Dawes is a producer for Midday.