A talk by Hellen Ward
Bias in our products: The case for diversity in tech
The Topic
This talk, "Bias in our products: The case for diversity in tech", explores the real-world impact that lack of diversity has on the products we build — from racially biased soap dispensers to life-threatening gender gaps in AI-powered healthcare tools. I gave this talk in January at the Brighton Web Development Meetup and a very reduced version of it last year at a codebar Brighton workshop.
I was inspired to give this talk not just by statistics (which are stark), but by the real-world consequences we’re seeing in software and hardware alike. I start off by talking about how a lot of the original pioneers of tech were women and discuss some of the reasons why this might have changed. I then walk through examples of modern biases in tech, which highlight how homogeneous teams miss critical perspectives, and invite the audience to consider how better representation leads to more effective technology.
This isn't a universally complimentary talk about AI — because I don’t think it should be. We need to talk honestly about how bias makes its way into our systems, and how we as engineers and decision-makers can start doing better. My hope is that the talk leaves people feeling not just aware of the problem, but motivated to be part of the solution.
The Person
I studied drama, which inevitably led to a series of sparkling roles in admin. Somewhere between playing calendar Tetris and speed typing minutes, I thought: "What if I taught myself to code?" Somehow this became my new career and I haven't looked back.
On the web: hellenwellsward.com, LinkedIn