To benefit all, diverse voices must take part in leading the growth and regulation of AI

Saturday, 3 January 2024, Bengaluru, India

The number of varied entrepreneurs using AI to create beneficial, socially impacting services and products is growing along with the prominence of technology in our daily lives. These founders’ businesses frequently address critical social problems because their distinct life experiences influence their inventiveness. Society gains when varied founders are successful.

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Nevertheless, their opinions and voices still need to be included in the policy debates and choices that will determine how AI develops and impacts our society.

Regretfully, this exclusion is typical in the startup and venture capital ecosystem. Over 20% of Americans are of Latinx or Latina descent; over the past ten years, they have started half of all new enterprises (19% of which are in the tech sector), making up $3.2 trillion of the country’s yearly economic output. Taken together, they constitute the world’s fifth-largest economy.

However, fewer than 2% of startup venture funding goes to Latinx founders, who are devalued and neglected despite their talent and perseverance as entrepreneurs. Even when they do, it’s usually only a tiny portion of what their non-Hispanic colleagues are given.

Though traditionally disregarded, Latinx Americans are putting in the work and getting ready to play a significant role in the future of the United States. Enrollment in science and engineering programs has increased by 65% in the previous ten years, while the number of Latinx and Hispanic college students has more than doubled since 2000.

Former Cisco CIO Guillermo Diaz Jr. referred to the current junction of AI and tech with rising Latinx/e employment, economic power, and education as “a light-speed moment,” stating that more Latinx/e leaders in technology translate into a considerably more prosperous United States of America.

Regarding AI legislation, I recognize and concur with some of the frequently expressed concerns, and I welcome the recent push for prompt regulation. However, I find it incomprehensible that Latinx/e and other diverse communities should be included in the regulatory discourse.

Last year, the Biden administration spoke about AI laws with academics, advocates, and executives from Open AI, Google, Amazon, Microsoft, Meta, and a few other firms. However, this group needed to be expanded. The broad consensus on AI is more nuanced among our allies and underrepresented communities.

On the one hand, we are worried about how AI technology can support prejudice and discrimination. On the other hand, we want to ensure that AI’s many beneficial prospective applications can help all Americans, including consumers, entrepreneurs, and diverse communities. Without considering varied viewpoints, regulations may limit the benefits of AI for a variety of communities, which would be detrimental to everyone’s social and economic prospects.

Talks regarding the development and governance of AI are essentially talks about the future of society, and a varied range of people will be important players. Diverse, visionary startup founders and leaders should be involved in discussions about how to simultaneously develop an appropriate regulatory framework for AI technology and create the conditions that will allow diverse founders to have a voice and contribute meaningfully to AI’s evolution before regulators finalize any significant policy changes.

Policymakers should consider incentives such as tax credits, grants for STEM education, and training and recruitment programs in addition to establishing careful barriers to increase the representation, success, and contributions of diverse groups in the expanding AI industry.

Advanced AI holds tremendous promise for everyone, but it also carries risks like every other revolutionary technology. This implies that legislators need our input on all policies about AI. They must incorporate diverse company founders and leaders as they think through the AI incentives and policies that will shape our shared future.

(Information Source: Techcrunch.com)