Responsible DS + AI Speaker Series: Thema Monroe-White

Abstract: Algorithmic bias and harms from data collection and use are disproportionately affecting minoritized groups.  A key area of concern is how practices in the realms of artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and/or data science (DS) are impacting data workers and data work.  Questions that are emerging include: Why should policy scholars care about these issues? How should we prepare (i.e., educate and train) the future data workforce to address current and anticipated challenges in equity How should we design and deploy algorithmic models for the benefit of marginalized groups? What is still missing from the current data discourse? This talk will focus on framings at the margins within and about data work and data workers. In particular, it will amplify the perspectives and lived experiences of individuals that challenge current trends in AI/ML and DS with the aim of democratizing the data discourse. The panel will highlight how the logics, ways of knowing, and critical framings that are presently under attack are the ones that would help to solve systemic challenges in the data science workflows. 

Thema Monroe-White has over ten years of combined evaluation, research and data analytics expertise from her years as a consultant, nonprofit leader, and instructor. White's research is concerned with broadening participation in STEM-C fields, with a special emphasis on information technology, analytics and data science. She is particularly interested in the relationship between technology, entrepreneurship and the economic empowerment of underrepresented people of color. She presents regularly at professional and academic conferences and publishes in a wide variety of journals pertaining to equity and inclusion in STEM education, social entrepreneurship and innovation. White holds a PhD in science, technology and innovation policy from the Georgia Institute of Technology as well as master's and bachelor's degrees from Howard University.

Questions? Contact Janet Eke or Kanyao Han

The Responsible Data Science and AI Speaker Series discusses topics such as equity, fairness, biases, ethics, and privacy. The presentations and discussions take place on Fridays, 9-10 am Central Time, on Zoom. This series is organized by Associate Professor Jana Diesner and supported by the Center for Informatics Research in Science and Scholarship (CIRSS) and the School of Information Sciences at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

If you are interested in this speaker series, please subscribe to our speaker series calendar: Google Calendar or Outlook Calendar.