Responsible Tech Guide working group! New NYC gathering! New livestream on generative AI!
Plus we introduce Tekalo for social impact roles, videos from our recent gatherings and livestreams, panelists announced, and much more.
đ„ł Weâre thrilled to announce our next Responsible Tech Mixer in NYC â a collaboration with Atlantic Council!
Here at All Tech Is Human, we are all about tackling wicked tech & society issues. One of the thorniest issues as of late has been: how do we chart a roadmap for future online ecosystems to protect usersâ rights, support innovation, and center trust and safety principles? Our next gathering will celebrate the report release of Atlantic Councilâs Digital Forensic Research Lab's Task Force for a Trustworthy Future Web, which provides an actionable roadmap for future online ecosystems.
đJoin us on Monday, June 26th in NYC as we welcome Yoel Roth (Tech Policy Fellow at UC Berkeley, former Head of Trust & Safety at Twitter), Maya Wiley (President and CEO of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, renowned civil rights attorney and activist), Mike Masnick (Â Founder and CEO of Floor64 and editor of the Techdirt blog), and moderator Kat Duffy (Visiting senior fellow at the Atlantic Councilâs DFRLab; Director of the Task Force for a Trustworthy Future Web) for our panel. There will also be a mixer with food, drink, and ample time to share resources and learn from others that are deeply committed to co-creating a better tech future.
Capacity is limited and this gathering will fill up fast. Register now!
đ Join our working group to help craft the next Responsible Tech Guide.
We are excited to launch our latest working group; this one will be focused on helping craft and providing feedback for the next version of the Responsible Tech Guide (our flagship resource). David Ryan Polgar from All Tech Is Human will be helping lead this working group, with the first check-in meeting scheduled for Thursday, June 22 (given the global nature of the participants, most collaboration is structured to be done asynchronously through shared documents, Slack conversations, emails, etc.).
đSo whether you are established in Responsible Tech or new to the ecosystem and looking to grow in knowledge and network, we would love to have you involved. The Responsible Tech Guide is our flagship resource designed to provide a better understanding of the people, organizations, and ideas of the Responsible Tech movement. We released our first version in September 2020 and release a new version each September.
The Responsible Tech Guide draws on insight from interacting with thousands of individuals since 2018 through our regular summits & mixers, Slack community of 5k members across 69 countries, interviewing hundreds of people about their career in Responsible Tech, our university ambassadors (which has evolved into a Responsible Tech University Network), our mentorship program, and more (see all projects here). In other words, we have a unique understanding of what the Responsible Tech ecosystem looks like and where the movement is headed.
The release of the Responsible Tech Guide will also coincide with our Responsible Tech Summit: Reimagining Social Media for a Better Future that will take place on September 14th in NYC.
đ Thank you to everyone who came out to our Responsible Tech Mixer last week! Watch our panel conversation about how biases in algorithms can result in harms to communities of color.
We had a wonderful time last Wednesday for our Responsible Tech Mixer + Interview Series where we celebrated the release of Consumer Reportsâ new short film series Bad Input (done in partnership with the Kapor Center).
Watch the video above, featuring Nabiha Syed (CEO of The Markup), Crystal Grant, Ph.D. (Technology Fellow with the ACLU's Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project; featured in Bad Input), Lili Gangas (Chief Technology Community Officer at the Kapor Center), and moderator Brian Vines (Deputy, Special Projects at Consumer Reports).
đ„ To kick of our recent gathering, All Tech Is Humanâs Founder & Director David Ryan Polgar delivered an impassioned plea to stop focusing on the fear narrative of the AI Apocalypse crowd. Instead, he urges us to focus on real world harms and ensure that a broad range of individuals participate in the conversation. Aligning our tech future with the public interest requires us to grapple with our past and present. All Tech Is Human is committed to listening, learning, and greater collective action. If this speaks to you, we hope that you can share it with others to make a larger impact.
đ We are overjoyed by the community support we have received to continue to grow our vision around building a global, multistakeholder, multidisciplinary network that can tackle wicked tech & society issues to co-create a tech future aligned with the public interest. Our recent gatherings have attracted a diverse range of participation with a lot of individuals traveling far distances to witness the exciting vibrant community. For our recent gathering in NYC, Vardon Hamdiu traveled all the way from Zurich, Switzerland. We asked him why:
âI joined the All Tech Is Human community on Slack a long time ago and participated in the mentorship program for a while. What drew me was that I felt represented by this organization and inspired by how it manages to bring together a wide variety of folks with a shared desire to change tech for the better. So, when I read about the Responsible Tech Mixer in New York I was intrigued, and I knew I would have to try to join. I live in Switzerland, but I was lucky to be able to combine my transatlantic travels to this event with another wonderful gathering on the continent. The experience of the Responsible Tech Mixer was incredibly exciting, connecting me with fascinating individuals from such a diverse range of backgrounds - all working to tackle important issues in tech. It energized and inspired me deeply and left me with a renewed sense of opportunity for meaningful change. Thank you to All Tech Is Human and everyone who helped make this event happen!â -Vardon Hamdiu
đ We're thrilled to introduce a new talent initiative that bridges the gap between tech talent and impact-driven opportunities. Introducing Tekalo!
Has your organization posted a role on our Responsible Tech Job Board? Have you joined our Responsible Tech Talent Pool? Have you been impacted by widespread layoffs across the tech industry? This 100% FREE talent matchmaking initiative is for you!
âTechâ + âKaloâ (âgoodâ or âwellâ in Greek). Tekalo refers to using technology to build a better world. Given All Tech Is Humanâs role in helping build a better tech future, we thought this was a perfect fit. Also, in light of the recent wave of tech layoffs, we see this as a valuable way to put talented individuals in social impact roles (US-based 501c3 orgs).
đ Tekalo is a hub for multiple types of opportunities, including: full-time or part-time, paid or unpaid positions, including part-time employment, contract, advisory and volunteer. An initiative of Schmidt Futures, Tekalo is free to all users (individuals wanting possible roles with non-profits, and the non-profits wanting to find individuals). Tekalo is also supported by Fast Forward and U.S. Digital Response.
đOur non-profit organization has been at the center of the Responsible Tech movement since 2018 (overview here), and weâve spent years building up a network of over 10K+ professionals who want to tackle thorny tech & society issues and are devoted to technology that is responsible and in the public interest. As a connective tissue between a diverse range of individuals and the companies and organizations looking to find these very individuals, this launch will mark an expansion in our role as a matchmaker for the social impact space. By diversifying the traditional tech pipeline with more backgrounds and disciplines, we can build a better tech future - one that is more aligned with the public interest and capable of tackling hard problems.
Itâs time to bridge the gap between tech talent and impact-driven opportunities. Introducing Tekalo.
đĄ All too often, dedicated and exceptional tech talent looking to make a lasting impact through their work are never exposed to mission driven opportunities outside of traditional tech trajectories. Conversely, organizations in the impact sector are in need of this talent, but it can be costly, time consuming, and difficult to reach the right candidates. All Tech Is Human is proud to support an exciting new solution to this talent divide, Tekalo. Through a simplified application, Tekalo empowers tech talent to work on causes that they care about while helping impact organizations find and connect with these exceptional individuals.
đ Join us on June 27 for the next installment of our Generative AI livestream series!
In recent weeks we have welcomed Rumman Chowdhury, Elizabeth M. Reneries (VIDEO), Reid Blackman, and Brandeis Marshall (VIDEO) to our Generative AI livestream series moderated by Rebekah Tweed.
On Tues, June 27th we will welcome Triveni Gandhi (Responsible AI Lead at Dataiku) and another special guest to be announced shortly. Read Triveniâs full bio at our event page and join us online for this important conversation!
đJoin us on June 29th from 3-4pm ET for our final Digital Playground with New_ Public!
We'll be featuring Ziarekenya Smith and Kathryn Young, the founders of Inpathy, a social therapy app where people share their authentic emotions. Since birth, Ziarekenya has had a heart for servant leadership and expressing himself creatively through his art, design, and storytelling skill sets. In 2015, Ziarekenya used his painful life experiences to create real-world human-centered solutions to the digital world's most significant problems. Since 2022, Kathryn has been featured on Forbes, Black Enterprise, Yahoo, Black Wall Street Times, Voyage Dallas Magazine, and Citizen Weekly sharing her work with Inpathy and desire to uncover innovative digital mental health solutions that can lead to authentic, diverse and supportive online communities.
đWeâre heading back to San Francisco for a Responsible Tech Mixer + Panel on Reducing Online Harms that will happen on August 2nd! 250 people will be gathering at Mannyâs. Are you joining us?
đIn our last email, we announced that Sherry Turkle will be in conversation with Get Media Savvy's Julie Scelfo at our Responsible Tech Summit: Reimagining Social Media for a Better Future that will be held on September 14th in NYC at the SVA Theater in collaboration with the Canadian Consulate.
âïžWe are continuing to collect interest for our upcoming Responsible Tech Summit: A Better Future for Youth that will be held at the Australian Embassy in Washington, DC on October 25th. Do you know of people and organizations that should be involved? Let us know through our form here.
đ©âđ«Looking to learn more about the Responsible Tech movement? Check out our recent primer, Welcome to the Responsible Tech Movement, along with our Knowledge Hub. Catch up on recently released reports such as Tech & Democracy and AI & Human Rights.
đ€We have a lot of different talents on the All Tech Is Human team. Here is a look at each team memberâs focus.
Our team at All Tech Is Human continues to grow with the recent additions of Elisa Fox and Sarah Welsh, along with four summer interns who will be placed with our non-profit org. We wanted to provide you with insight into each individualâs area of focus, so you know who to reach out to for a question about All Tech Is Human, media request, ideas for collaboration, and more.
Elisa: International tech policy (with a focus on the global), supporting youth & technology, and responsible tech careers (job board)
Sandra: Online harms reduction, partnerships, cybersecurity with a policy focus
Josh: Digital life, content, community, events
Rebekah: Responsible AI, Responsible Tech careers, ATIH programs
Sarah: Mentoring + Career Transitions, Ethics, Academia
Karina: Bay Area Responsible Tech Community, Responsible AI/Tech Education, ATIH Publications
David: Promoting multistakeholder collaboration, speeding up tech consideration, growing the Responsible Tech movement, and funding opportunities for All Tech Is Human
đ€ŻWeâre busy sifting and sorting through 700 applications for our mentorship program.
This week weâre finalizing our full list of mentors so we can begin building out the mentorship pods for the next Responsible Tech Mentorship Program cohort! We have begun notifying mentors, and mentees can expect to hear back on June 23rd. The next cohort will begin July 1 and run through December.
đWe had an amazing set of applications this year for mentors, many of whom are returning to our program, including Chhavi Chauhan (Director of Scientific Outreach, ASIP), Triveni Gandhi (Responsible AI Lead, Dataiku), Chris McClean (Director, Global Lead, Digital Ethics, Avanade), Matt Soeth (Head of Trust & Safety, Spectrum Labs), and many more.
We have mentors from over 18 time zones working in so many different areas of Responsible Tech. Ethical AI was the most popular interest area this year for both mentors and mentees, bumping down Trust & Safety from the top slot in previous cohorts. Youâll find some data visualizations from our (nearly complete) list of mentors below. Congrats to all of our new and returning mentors and THANK YOU for sharing your knowledge, network, and expertise to help lift up new voices in the Responsible Tech movement. As we mentioned in our last newsletter, we had 700 applications from 49 countries in just two weeks and are continuing to work on ways to expand our mentorship program!
đșWATCH our tech policy panel from our recent gathering in London!
đ€Did you miss our recent livestream on Building a Career in Trust & Safety? You can watch it below.
On May 25, All Tech Is Human and Civics Unplugged held their third intergenerational youth roundtable (in-person + virtual) with a focus on youth and responsible applications of AI. Patrick K. Lin, Author of Machine See, Machine Do, led the conversation on the state of affairs with AI: its development, deployment, and responsible applications for youth, especially in educational settings. Read more about the session in our blog post. This roundtable series has been of enormous value ahead of our youth, tech, and wellbeing-focused summit on October 25, 2023, at the Australian Embassy in Washington, DC. For more information, contact Sandra Khalil and Elisa Fox.
Read the takeaways from our recent roundtable!
đ Please welcome Helen Moore, one of four summer interns working with All Tech Is Human!
As a sophomore studying Data Science and Social Systems with a minor in Ethics and Technology, Helen Moore has a great interest in the work of All Tech is Human. Her entry into the world of responsible technology was not necessarily the typical one. While spending a summer in Sicily on a maritime archaeology dig, access to social media was sparse. The positive effect that this had on her mental health through not living notification to notification was enough to prompt her taking classes in the ethical technology space.
đFor the last year, Helen has not only explored these conundrums academically but has tackled them in the Stanford Social Media Lab and through designing an event at the Stanford d.school surrounding âDesigning Social Media for Youth Mental Healthâ. These projects link to Helenâs larger passion of thinking about the effects of design choices on user behavior and the specific relation of that to user mental health. Her dream for the summer is to engage with other individuals thinking about the responsible creation of technology and to lead this ecosystem of thinkers at Stanford going forward.
Welcome, Helen!
đ Cool happenings in Responsible Tech
All Tech Is Human serves as a catalyst for positive change in the Responsible Tech ecosystem! Our non-profit acts as a hub for people to build community, learn from each other, and find moments of collaboration.
Do you have something you want others to know about? Ping Sandra Khalil from our team. All Tech Is Human also runs a Responsible Tech Community Calendar; submit directly for consideration. Check out some great community happenings below!
đïžListen to All Tech Is Humanâs Rebekah Tweed appear on the Brand Safety Podcast (presented by the Oasis Consortium) about Building a Diverse & Responsible Tech Ecosystem.
đșDid you know that All Tech Is Human has a YouTube channel? We do! And it is growing with the addition of dozens of videos from our summits, mixers, livestream, our theory of change, and more. Weâd love to have you as a subscriber.
đOur Slack community continues to grow, with members representing 69 countries. There has been a lot of great discussion around location-specific meetups, finding career opportunities, discuss key happenings in the movement, and more. If you havenât joined you, you can do so here.
đWe have also been increasing the amount of blog postings we are doing, along with posting daily now through our growing LinkedIn page.
âHi everyone! My name is Randima Fernando, and I'm a Co-Founder of Center for Humane Technology. I'd like to invite you to an "AI Town Hall" I'll be presenting on YouTube Live on Wednesday June 7 from 9-10 am Pacific Daylight Time (GMT-7). We'll share some of our thoughts around the exploding world of general-purpose AI, including the latest developments, trends and risks, common myths and nuances, interactions with economic systems, and potential next steps.We'll also have optional small-group break-outs from 10-10:30 am so people can get to know each other better. (Our apologies for the late notice -- we had just missed the previous ATIH newsletter.) You can register and send in your questions here
We hope to see you there!â -Randima Fernando
âJoin artist, author and founder of Life Calling, John Mack as he partners with London Design Biennale to convene thought leaders and opinion formers across academia, arts and culture, business and technology for an afternoon of introspection, idea-sharing and discussion exploring our relationship with existing and emerging digital technologies on the 13th of June from 13:00-17:30 pm at Kingâs College. This event is free to attend, registration is required and can be found here. For additional information please contact: info@life-calling.org. A boutique version of Mackâs immersive exhibition: A Species Between Worlds: Our Nature, Our Screens that debuted in New York in fall 2022 reaching over 15,000 individuals with support from Bloomberg Philanthropies is also representing the USA Pavilion this month at the London Design Biennale 1 June to 25 June at Somerset House supported by the U.S. Embassy.â- Kathryn Morrissey
âHi everyone! Weâll be hosting our monthly Seattle All Tech Is Human community meetup/happy hour at our usual time, the third Thursday of the month, June 15 @ 6:30pm. Weâll be meeting at Optimism Brewery to discuss responsible tech, what we can do to grow the community in Seattle, and generally just getting to know one another. All are welcome! Until then, have a great week and looking forward to seeing those of you who can attend.â -Xavier Hayeck
âHi all! My name is Gillian Diebold, and Iâm a policy analyst at ITIFâs Center for Data Innovation, where I research data and digital inequalities. Iâll be moderating a virtual panel on June 21 about AI, jobs, and the Global South. Weâll be discussing how developing nations can take advantage of the new wave of AI-enabled tools and the types of policies needed to ensure they are not left behind in the global economy. Speakers include Mohamed Abdel-Kader, executive director for the Innovation, Technology, and Research (ITR) Hub at USAID. Sure to be a great conversation!! Register here.â-Gillian Diebold
âAI Equity DC is a vibrant community of individuals committed to promoting AI equity and data justice. Our group is dedicated to mitigating the consequences of harmful AI, including those who are often overlooked in the process. Whether you are an AI enthusiast, researcher, developer, or simply interested in the ethical and social implications of AI, this meetup group offers a welcoming space to connect, learn, and take action. Together, letâs work towards a future where we remediate harms already caused by AI and mitigate future ones. Join us and hear from amazing speakers, learn from interactive workshops, and discuss the most impactful books on Responsible AI.â -Ayodele Odubela
âHello fellow responsible tech enthusiasts! Iâm JB, a staunch advocate for data privacy and part of a fantastic youth-led group, Youth for Privacy. We, in collaboration with Data Values Project, are hosting a Data Values Bootcamp from July 31st to August 2nd, 2023. This is not just any event. Itâs an opportunity for young changemakers, aged 16 to 30, to come together, explore, and challenge how personal data is handled in our society. Weâll be focusing on responsible data practices, privacy, and how you can make a positive change in your community. Why is this important? In the digital world we live in, understanding and controlling how your data is used is paramount. Itâs a matter of privacy, security, and personal freedom. Through this bootcamp, we hope to equip participants with the knowledge and tools necessary to create data protection rules within their own communities, think a GDPR for their school or college!
How can you get involved? There are multiple avenues for participation, whether youâre interested in attending, delivering a 5-minute lightning talk, mentoring, or hosting a workshop. Weâre building a network of young, privacy-conscious individuals ready to lead the change. I encourage you to get involved, make your voice heard, and help shape a fairer data future for all. You can register to attend or participate in various ways on our website. And if youâd like to connect directly, please donât hesitate to reach out to me at j@youthforprivacy.org. Letâs navigate the data terrain together and carve out a privacy-conscious future! Yours for responsible tech, JBâ
đ We need less fear and more listening.
-All Tech Is Human | Drop us an email today
â See all of our projects, including our new Tech & Democracy report, Responsible Tech University Network, mentorship program, job board, upcoming gatherings, livestreams, working groups, previous reports, community Slack group, Responsible Tech Guide, our talent matchmaking service, our Responsible Tech Talent Pool, 500+ Responsible Tech Org List, knowledge hub, Tekalo (NEW; matchmaking for social impact), our Welcome to the Responsible Tech Movement primer, and more.