NEW INITIATIVE REVEALS HIDDEN STORIES OF FEMALE TRAILBLAZERS LEADING THE WAY IN RESPONSIBLE AI

17th June 2024

17 June 2024 —The 'Women Shaping the Future of Responsible AI' (WSFR.AI) is a new initiative that recognises women across the world who are leading the way in establishing a new standard for AI development that is based on upholding human values and agency to drive positive societal impact.

As part of the initiative, an annual WSFR.AI award will recognise women from all regions of the world who champion responsible uses of AI, making a difference through their daily work in their respective fields.

The initiative is founded by The Futures Project's Dr. Julia Stamm, an award-winning social impact, tech for good and sustainability leader, and Ethical Intelligence's Olivia Gambelin, a world-renowned expert in AI Ethics and one of the first movers in responsible AI.

The initiative aims to rewrite the public perception around AI. As the recent media storm around OpenAI has shown, the public debate is currently torn between glorifying AI technology as the ultimate saviour of humanity or its ultimate annihilation.

Seeking to counter these narratives, WSFR.AI wants to focus on showing what's possible when AI is used responsibly, and recognise and celebrate the fact that AI requires multiple different perspectives and disciplines to be successful.

And with women making up only 30% of the AI sector, the awards want to highlight the success stories that are not typically being heard.

Categories will cover a broad range of sectors, with each category supported in collaboration with a partner from the same sector.

An awards council of global female leaders in the field of AI and social impact, combining a broad range of backgrounds and perspectives, will be responsible for reviewing the top nominees per award category and selecting the winner of each category.

Confirmed council members so far include TechnoFuturist, TED speaker and Founder of Future Memory Inc, Galit Ariel; Founder of women-led Mexican think tank Eon Institute and TED speaker, Claudia Del Pozo; award-winning Kenyan computer scientist and Qhala CEO Dr Shikoh Gitau; Member of the Feminist AI network for Latin America and DataGénero Co-Founder, Ivana Feldfeber; Social impact leader and Founder of McPherson Strategies,Susan McPherson, and Financial Times AI Editor Madhumita Murgia.

Dr Julia Stamm, says:“When it comes to women in technology, the discussion is always about how difficult it is being a woman in that space. Our focus with the WSFR.AI award is on what women are actually doing, all the ingenuity, ideas, commitment and hard work that goes into this. We really want to shed light on the women who are doing the groundwork on how to use AI for people, instead of using people for AI.”

Olivia Gambelin, says: “If you hand a woman a rock and a stone and you say go and make something brilliant, she's going to figure out how to do it. Being able to highlight that and put it centre stage is something that is not only encouraging to other young women that are developing their careers in this space, but to the space across the board.”

The Global President of Women in AI and Co-Chair of UNESCO Women for Ethical AI, Dr Alessandra Sala, applauds the initiative: “Recognising expert women working in the field of Responsible AI is not just a matter of equity; it's essential for the future of ethical AI. Diversity in expertise, culture and perspectives leads to more comprehensive, fair, and ethical AI solutions. Empowering women in this field is critical to building AI systems with all and for all.”

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About WSFR.AI Award

The WSFR.AI Award highlights and recognizes female trailblazers across the globe who are pioneers in developing AI using responsible best practices and in using responsible AI for the common good. We aim to show the power of individual - and collective - agency in a world changed by AI.

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