In the interview, Luger discusses her journey in AI, the challenges of navigating a male-dominated industry, and the importance of responsible AI development. She advises women seeking to enter the AI field to pursue opportunities even if they don't feel 100% qualified. Luger also highlights the pressing issues facing AI, including environmental impact, regulatory challenges, and potential harms if AI systems are not carefully designed and governed. She emphasizes the need for diverse representation in AI design, thorough stress-testing of systems, and mechanisms for opt-out, contestation, and recourse.
Key takeaways:
- TechCrunch is launching a series of interviews focusing on women who’ve contributed to the AI revolution, with Ewa Luger, co-director at the Institute of Design Informatics and co-director of the BRAID program, being one of them.
- Ewa Luger's research explores social, ethical and interactional issues in the context of data-driven systems, including AI systems, with a particular interest in design, the distribution of power, spheres of exclusion, and user consent.
- Luger is most proud of her ongoing work with BRAID, a program designed to support the development of a responsible AI ecosystem in the U.K., which has funded 27 projects so far and runs until the end of 2028.
- According to Luger, the most pressing issues facing AI are related to the immediate and downstream harms that might occur if we’re not careful in the design, governance and use of AI systems, including the environmental impact of large-scale models, the speed of AI innovations and the ability of the regulatory climate to keep up, and issues of bias.