It’s no secret that AI is the most consequential technology of our modern time. Even in this nascent stage, it’s already dictating how we interact with many of the systems we rely on to power our lives, from healthcare to finance to education. However, as two nonprofit CEOs who focus on the human ingenuity behind the tech industry, we have a particular stake in the progress of this emerging technology. We’ve seen, firsthand, the essential two-way street of diversity in tech, and especially in AI. When we empower underrepresented groups – like women and people of color – to take up space in tech, they create products and services that serve the needs of our changing world.
Right now, in New York, we have a one-of-a-kind opportunity to harness the power of our uniquely diverse communities through a new program that focuses on the development of AI, while creating positive change for society as a whole. But in order for this to happen, and for New York State to set an industry example, this proposal must pass in this year’s state budget.
From what we’ve seen so far, it’s clear that the future of AI depends on who’s developing it. Computing jobs remain predominantly occupied by white men and difficult to access for underrepresented groups, and biases in AI technology are forming from this lack of representation. Already, we’ve seen how AI systems have perpetuated housing discrimination reflective of systemic racism, sexism, and ableism. Tenants are regularly denied housing, despite their ability to pay rent, because tenant screening algorithms deem them ineligible or unworthy.
In fact, a recent study conducted by Stanford University’s Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence found that participation from a diverse set of researchers is essential to ensuring equity in the AI space. When women and people of color are behind the scenes developing these tools, their life experience lets them see needs and solutions that others may overlook. And, because of that, they create programming others might not.
One of Empire AI’s main goals is to develop ethical AI technology that will benefit the public interest and lift underserved communities. The consortium combines the power of public and private academic institutions to create a state-of-the-art computing center in Buffalo that will advance responsible AI research. This initiative will not only facilitate statewide innovation and groundbreaking research, but also allow New York’s public institutions to pioneer safe, responsible – and crucially – equitable AI research and development. That means giving computing power usually reserved exclusively for big tech companies to researchers, faculty and students.
Empire AI complements the work we’re already doing at Girls Who Code and The Knowledge House to harness technology for social good and to allow our students to use their skills to create a better, more equitable world. Earlier this month, Girls Who Code students partnered with CUNY – one of the Empire AI consortium members – to conduct research on how AI tools can be used to solve problems in our communities. The solutions proposed by our primarily female, diverse teams, are indisputably different than what a team at a for-profit institution, where only 1 in 3 programmers are women, and a mere 5% of them Black or Hispanic, would have generated.
Not only will Empire AI provide the resources and funding necessary to conduct research to advance medicine, spur economic growth, prevent crime, mitigate climate change, and improve education, but it will also foster novel jobs in industries we haven’t even yet imagined. This will create a new sector of AI-powered businesses in New York for which Girls Who Code and The Knowledge House are positioned to be a direct pipeline of talent. The Knowledge House has already provided tech training and digital literacy courses to more than 2,000 people from underrepresented communities, and Girls Who Code has a network of 185,000 job-ready students who are eager to take on this next phase in AI jobs. With Empire AI, programming like ours will only become more accessible.
Empire AI provides the investment we need at this moment to support public institutions, women, and underrepresented communities. Together, we can learn what our society needs and discover solutions for the greater good. We see a future where our students have the most powerful voice in the technologies that shape the next era of New York. Let’s commit to investing in that future by funding Empire AI.
