The AI Community Needs Fo Take Responsibility for Its Technology and Its Actions

"It may seem like a scary time to be a man in tech right now," says Celeste Kidd, a professor of psychology at the University of California, Berkeley. "What I want to say today to all of the men in the room is that you have been misled."

Credit: Democrat and Chronicle

At the opening of one of the world's largest gatherings of AI researchers, Celeste Kidd addressed thousands of attendees in a room nearly twice the size of a football field.

"There's no such thing as a neutral platform," the influential scientist and prominent #metoo figurehead told those gathered at the NeurIPS conference in Vancouver. "The algorithms pushing content online have profound impacts on what we believe."

Kidd is known within her field for making important contributions to our understanding of theory of mind—how we acquire knowledge and how we form beliefs. Two years ago, she also became known to the wider world when Time named her Person of the Year among others who spoke out against sexual abuse and harassment.

In the interview, Kidd talks more about the two messages she delivered, her research and her experiences of sexual harassment in a public forum, how they are related, and her hopes for the future.