Why I Started DataEthics4All

In 2016, the unexpected happened. You all know what I’m talking about. Don’t you?

Not only did the Political Scene in the United States of America take an unexpected turn overnight, we also learned that the Platform that was built to bring people together was now being weaponized against us, challenging our Political, Religious, Cultural, Ethical and Social beliefs.

I was not happy. People were not happy.

Fast forward to 2018, another historical event happened, Cambridge Analytica. As a long term Tech Marketer, it was a wake-up call for me. 

It was a wake-up call on how these so called social media platforms where we share and give important key data about our lives willingly could not only be used unethically but could also cause us harm.

I also saw how our Youth used TikTok and SnapChat sharing every last detail about themselves carelessly – who they are, where do they go to school, what is their favorite ice cream shop!

I heard myself saying ‘Enough is Enough’.

I NEEDED TO DO SOMETHING.

I wanted to MAKE PEOPLE AWARE of the POWER they had. 

I wanted to GIVE this POWER BACK to THEM.

I started DataEthics4All as a humble Initiative, reaching out to anyone who’d listen and agree that the use of Data extends beyond the use of AI and Ethics is needed for an end to end Data Governance strategy from data collection to data selling. 

I started thinking of ways on how we could educate our Audience on their Data Power and Control.

We slowly started building a Community of Data Ethics Advocates and Stewards when the unfortunate death of George Floyd happened.

I remember questioning myself and the Global Leaders of the DataEthics4All Community, what can WE do to protest against the racial injustice in society?

As Technologists, we are aware that our lives are driven to a large extent by AI systems and the problems we face today by using these systems in Recruiting, Banking, Facial Recognition.

That’s what led to the Ethics4NextGen AI Hackathon. 

Yes, our AI systems are not perfect today. But we want them to be for Our Next Generation.

Mahatma Gandhi said ‘Be the Change, you want to see in the world’.

Since the best practice to create better AI systems is human oversight with cognitive diversity, we set out to host a Hackathon that will do just that.

We chose the top 3 areas of Artificial Intelligence that affected our Society the most today: Criminal Justice, Predictive Policing and COVID-19 Contact Tracing and set out to invite Leaders who’re at the intersection of Technology, Data, Ethics, Policy, Law, Healthcare, Marketing, AI Research, and Social Impact.

Most Hackathons encourage people to bring their Tech friends and ideate over a weekend. But we decided to do Algorithmic matchmaking for teams to maximize cognitive diversity.

Today, we are 700+ Member Strong from C-Suite Leaders to Youth Leaders, celebrating our Cognitive Diversity, Tech for Social Good and building the next generation of Inclusive AI systems that’ll create long term Social Impact.

I’m so glad you’ve joined us in building Ethical Solutions for tomorrow and I’m excited to see their Impact.

Hi, I am Shilpi Agarwal, Founder of DataEthics4All.

Welcome.