Topic: Strengthening Gender Equality in Generative AI (online side-event of the 68th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women)
Date: Friday, 22 March from 9:00 - 10:30 a.m. EST
Modality: Online / Virtual via Microsoft Teams
Objective: This event aimed to facilitate a discourse on academic research related to generative AI with a specific focus on advancing, promoting, and safeguarding gender equality. It will delve into the incorporation of human flaws, such as gender bias, into generative AI systems and emphasize the responsibility of academia and users in ensuring gender equality within these applications.
Featured Speakers
Moderated by Jayashri Wyatt, Chief, Education Outreach, UN Department of Global Communications
Revi Sterling
Senior Technical Director, Digital Inclusion, CARE and Adjunct Professor of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University in the U.S.
Dr. Revi Sterling has worked to advance digital inclusion for over 25 years, starting with algorithmic and pedagogical gender biases in computer science before moving deeply into addressing the gender digital divide. She is the Technical Director for the Women in the Digital Ecosystem Fund (WiDEF), a new 5-year White House initiative to close the gender and technology gap. She also serves on leading gender and technology boards, has testified before the U.S. Congress about the need for more women in the technical workforce, and consults extensively for foundations, development agencies, and high technology companies on using information and communications technology to empower women and marginalized populations.
Kutoma Wakunuma
Associate Professor and Interim Co-Director at the Centre for Computing and Social Responsibility, De Montfort University in the UK
Dr. Kutoma Wakunuma is currently Associate Professor at De Montfort University, United Kingdom where she is also Interim Co-Director of the Centre for Computing and Social Responsibility. Her research interests and expertise primarily focus on current and emerging digital technologies and their ethical implications on modern society in both the Global South and the Global North. She examines issues around Responsible AI; AI and digital policy governance; digital inclusion and development; responsible innovation; and gender-related issues in digital technologies. She has been invited to convene panels and speak at high level international forums, including the UNs Science Summit of the General Assembly and the UNs Internet Governance Forum where her insights contribute to global discussions on technology and society. She serves as a European Commission Ethics Advisor and Evaluator.
Jaimee Stuart
Senior Researcher, Team Lead at the United Nations University Institute in Macau
Dr Jaimee Stuart is a Senior Researcher and Team Lead at United Nations University Institute in Macau (UNU Macau). Jaimee Stuart is an applied cultural and developmental psychologist who specialises in computer-human interaction and digital health and wellbeing. Jaimee’s recent research projects have examined a broad range of issues related to social justice, peace, and development, such as gendered influences on cybersecurity and AI, tech anxieties, cyberbullying, social media literacies, digital competencies, parenting and technology, online disinhibition and the impact of emerging technologies on mental health. Her work aims to support the creation of safe, secure, and empowering online spaces for everyone, particularly women and children.
Constanza Gómez Mont
Founder & Principal, C Minds; Member of UNESCO Women4 Ethical AI Steering Committee, including the High Level Group to draft the first Global Recommendation of Ethical AI
Ms. Constanza Gomez Mont is founder of C Minds, who works in the field of emerging technologies for social and environmental good with partners such as IDB, UK Gov, IUCN, GIZ, among others. She is also the founder of the global initiative AI for Climate and head of NaturaTech LAC, a 2024-born initiative to accelerate the use of new technologies for biodiversity conservation in LAC. Moreover, she is a member of the steering committee for UNESCO’s Women for Ethical AI global platform, including the High Level Group to draft the first Global Recommendation of Ethical AI; and former chair of WEF´s GFC AI for Humanity and named Yale Climate Fellow 2024.