Activists Of Tech — The responsible tech podcast

Technology narratives are set in the present, and all of their promises set in the near future. We’ve heard about flying cars, automated jobs, robots able to annihilate Humanity, robots able to save Humanity, and went through many hype cycles, like crypto – a time that I personally tend to block from my memory. But looking at the past, at the evolution of technology, is actually critical for its impacts to be relevant and beneficial for everyone.We often say that History keeps repeating itself, so if we want to predict the future of technology, why not look at its past? Beyond that, I wondered how the History of Technology related to social justice and how interdisciplinary studies could advance social justice, as well as how to choose who and what to archive when it comes to Tech History, and how much AI could be useful or harmful in this endeavour. To answer these questions and more, I had the pleasure to welcome Dr Jeffrey Yost who studies power imbalances & societal inequality in our digital world.Dr Yost is a historian of science, technology, and medicine focused on the social, political, and cultural and intellectual history of the digital world. He is the Director of the Charles Babbage Institute (CBI) for Computing, Information & Culture, a computing and software studies research institute and the leading and most diverse historical archives center for students and scholars to study digital tech & its contexts.Created, hosted and produced by Mélissa M'Raidi-Kechichian.

More often than not, on Activists of Tech, we talk about the problems caused by technology and the solutions or alternatives to these issues. And I kind of feel guilty because I don’t want to convey the idea that AI is inherently bad. Though the mainstream culture surrounding AI certainly is, we have agency over what we create, over the AI systems we design and on how they impact others. Today’s guest is a great example and she is nothing short of inspiring: Dr Kadian Davis-Owusu has turned her passion for technology and learning into purpose, advocating for the power of online education and the ethical use of AI in learning. Kadian is the co-founder of TeachSomebody and a university lecturer at the Fontys University of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands.This episode is about tackling educational inequalities with technology, and we dived into Kadian’s work as an educator and technologist at TeachSomebody, a platform on a mission to bridge educational divides by making education accessible and providing equal opportunities to underserved communities. We talked about how online courses can address global inequalities, the potential of AI to revolutionize learning access, and what it takes to tackle concerns about privacy and AI ethics, and much more.Created, hosted and produced by Mélissa M'Raidi-Kechichian.

Culture, the arts, or what makes humans.. Humans. Yet it is not accessible to just everyone. When you think about it, how do you make a play accessible to visually or hearing impaired people? How can we use technology to translate art into senses they were not designed for in the first place? How does tech and art relate to disability justice?More often than not, people with disabilities are not included in the design process of artistic spaces that are not accessible and don’t accommodate bodies differing from the norm.In this episode, Colin Clark, inclusive designer and creative technologist and co-Founder of Lichen Community Systems Worker Cooperative Canada and Data Communities for Inclusion Solution Network at CIFAR joined me to talk about making the art world accessible with technology, the power of community led design, and move toward another yet related topic: the use of chat gpt by artists and the labor exploitation of the creative sector, and more!Created, hosted and produced by Mélissa M'Raidi-Kechichian.

Facing an injustice and requiring legal representation is a tedious, complex, and time-consuming process, on top of being expensive and not affordable by everyone who needs help. This hurdle greatly contributes to the prevalence of injustices, and today we are focusing on the case of a Nigerian non -profit, Citizens’ Gavel that is addressing this hurdle and leveraging AI to promote access to justice.Created, hosted and produced by Mélissa M'Raidi-Kechichian.

AI products and features are becoming ubiquitous. When the targets of AI systems are children in school, it should be common sense that the impacts of these technologies should be assessed before reaching the “market” and the privacy of kids subjected to them should be the number one priority of school boards. Of course, it’s not, and serious questions arise. How does the AI hype and the mass deployment of AI “solutions” impact education in the United States? What are the risks and benefits for the educational system? Who is in charge and who does it impact? To answer these questions and more, I am thrilled to have welcomed the most ✨outspoken✨ person I know (and I know quite a few), Shana V White, who works at the intersection of racial justice and tech as the Director of CS equity initiatives at the Kapor Center.Created, hosted and produced by Mélissa M'Raidi-Kechichian.

The Digital Services Act was recently passed in the European Union, and I wondered how did this piece of regulation related to climate change and how did it impact online activism? In this episode, Rachel Griffin, PhD candidate and lecturer in law at Sciences Po Paris, talks about the intersections between platform regulation and digital justice, the impacts of tech on the environment, shadow banning, and more. Check out Rachel’s policy brief on environmental risks in the DSA: https://www.hertie-school.org/en/news/detail/content/climate-breakdown-as-a-systemic-risk-in-the-digital-services-actCreated, hosted and produced by Mélissa M'Raidi-Kechichian.

What does it take for Big Tech to exist? Who does it take? What knowledge do we value and amplify in AI systems? In this episode, Laurence Meyer, Racial and Social Justice Lead at the Digital Freedom Fund and co-director at Weaving Liberation teaches us about the importance of decolonization, questioning the system, and how to do it. Our guest unpacks the narratives surrounding technology and AI, and she brings us on a hell of a ride to understand the relationship between tech, digital rights, data colonialism, colonization, and post-colonial culture. Check out weavingliberation.orgCreated, hosted and produced by Mélissa M'Raidi-Kechichian.

Remember when Clearview AI got fined 20 million euros by the Hellenic Data Protection Authority for its intrusive Facial Recognition & data collection practices? Yeah, that wouldn’t have been possible without the incredible work of the non-profit Homo Digitalis. In this episode, Lamprini Gyftokosta, Director of Artificial Intelligence and Human Rights at Homo Digitalis, talks about mass surveillance in Greece, digital rights, and the three pillars of Homo Digitalis: raising awareness, advocacy, and litigation. PS: do NOT accept cookies!Created, hosted and produced by Mélissa M'Raidi-Kechichian.