Post by Women in AI

🌟 Weekly Scientist Spotlight Series! 🌟    This week we wrap up this edition of the scientist spotlight series. Tomorrow is International Labor Day. Ideas such as equal rights, that everyone should be able to read and publish, should have time for leisure and different choices, were once radical and are now the norm. On this day, we acknowledge the daily acts of heroism over decades by many that made these ideas normal, and accepted. On this day, we also acknowledge the fact that many daily acts do not count as labor, are undervalued and undercounted, partly due to prejudice and mechanisms that make invisible activities that also produce value, make lives liable and societies habitable. Ours is a growing part of movements that aim to set right this misrepresentation, and are trying to reimagine what labor is and how it is valued. In this current landscape of fear, where people are worried about AI technologies replacing jobs and labor, where people are worried about their futures, we look at some evidence: This preprint[1] shows an ontology of tasks, of knowledge work in various sectors with an adoption of AI tools. Among other things, it shows that while the scale of adoption has increased, the diversity of tasks has not changed too much, and there is a long way to go for any meaningful replacement of tasks. In research, for example, studies have shown the limitations of AI technologies in identifying novelty, and envisioning outcomes that was not existent before, and how easily experiments are incorrectly designed and swayed. If we take look at examples from essential areas such as agriculture, transportation, health: to produce crops that thrive in adverse conditions, to monitor and protect our environment, to monitor and increase health outcomes for everyone, at least means vast amount of very minute data required, agreement between those who produce it and those who need it and essential conversation for a more even field in terms of business models - that makes citizens willing participants in creation and use rather than indentured consumers of it, with guaranteed protections of privacy, agency and security. This starts to look more like a massive rethink of what we should be doing and how we should be doing it as a sector. Any progress we have made has come from a place that is human, that is willing to persist, that is willing to collectively envision and believe in a future that is simply better for next generations. Through the work of more than 100 women scientists in AI from 31 countries, we have shown futures where the outcomes of their research are realized in terms of innovation, and that such work can be done anywhere in the world. As Women in AI, we are working towards this future where our labor matters, we have equal say in the world being built and we are equally valued. [1] Where can AI be used? Insights from a deep ontology of work activities: https://lnkd.in/emAJUKU7 #WomeninAI #InternationalLaborDay