Ethical A.I. and the Power of Women

As society continues to grapple with the ongoing integration of A.I. and the tangled web of ethics, I came across an interesting trend in my observations: many of the companies leading the charge for responsible A.I. have their development being spearheaded by women. When it comes to the creative front and something that pertains to my own work, the development of ethical A.I. at Shutterstock is a notable example. Arguably the only company on the market that provides an A.I. image generator based solely on a database of curated work that compensates contributing artists, Shutterstock is at the forefront of ethical A.I. development in the creative sector and is led by Alessandra Sala (I have included a link to an excellent article about this by Bridget Johnston here.)

Women In AI Ethics™ released a list titled 100 Brilliant Women in AI Ethics of 2024.

Forbes featured an article titled Championing Women In AI: A Vital Step For Inclusive Artificial Intelligence in December of 2023 by Shelley Zalis, the CEO and Founder of The Female Quotient. 

As one looks deeper into the world of ethical A.I. and its development, one cannot help but notice the female talent gravitating towards it since inception. While one must celebrate the inclusion (and tenacity) of women in a sector that has been predominantly male, I also sense a dark, underlying force that is driving women towards the push for responsible A.I.: the threat of exploitation and being silenced.

We have already seen the unfortunate effects of unregulated A.I. being used to harm women. The advent of A.I. generated pornography furthers to cheapen the technology and widen the propagation of artificialized female beauty that breeds objectification.

I welcome and encourage this force of women, of all backgrounds and views, putting their stamp on the development of this amazing technology and ensuring that it is used correctly.

My biggest concern is that we are still very behind on controlling it.

My biggest fear is that we are too late to do so.