Empowering Responsible AI
Insights from Dr. Rumman Chowdhury at SXSW 2025
At SXSW 2025, Dr. Rumman Chowdhury was the primary focus of a featured interview, conducted one-on-one with moderator Allison Morrison — a public policy advocate at Meta and Texas McCombs MBA candidate. Dr. Chowdhury, whose career began in nonprofits, public policy, and economics, now leads initiatives in ethical AI and social entrepreneurship as CEO and co-founder of Humane Intelligence. Her blend of technical expertise and human-centered insight offers a thoughtful perspective on today’s evolving technology landscape.
Throughout the session, Dr. Chowdhury offered a series of thought-provoking reflections that reframe how we view artificial intelligence and chart a course for its responsible use in international development and social enterprise.
We have curated the top 10 quotes from the session to ensure you can capture the essence of this excellent discussion:
“I always say I’m not born of tech. I did not start my career in tech — I began working at nonprofits, public policy organizations, and even as an economist. That breadth of experience gives me a perspective on technology that goes beyond the usual tech world.”
Her candid admission reminds us that innovation often springs from diverse backgrounds. By stepping outside the traditional tech pathway, Dr. Chowdhury brings a holistic lens to both the promises and limitations of AI.
“When I joined Accenture for responsible AI, I saw the problem as a series of quantitative social science challenges. It was an amazing opportunity to think big, think globally, and start solving big problems.”
Here she reflects her groundbreaking work at Accenture — where she pioneered the first enterprise bias detection and mitigation tool. By treating bias as a quantifiable issue, she set a new standard for addressing societal impacts through technology.
“With generative AI, the public can now simply ask, ‘Why is it that when I ask for five scientists, I only get men?’ and that’s where change begins.”
Chowhurdy captures the transformative power of generative AI. By putting technology directly into users’ hands, it sparks critical questioning and empowers individuals to challenge long-held biases.
“In my TED talk, I argued that it’s not about building trustworthy tech. It’s about creating tools so that people can make choices for themselves — tools that let us shift the conversation on what technology should be.”
This reflection shifts our focus from passive acceptance of technology to active empowerment. It urges us to design systems that not only function well but also give people a real say in how technology shapes their lives.
“I am a big open source advocate. Open source used to be the backbone of the tech industry — it made tech accessible by enabling people to learn from free code on GitHub. Of course, with that openness come security challenges, but its role in fostering innovation is undeniable.”
Her advocacy for open source underscores its historic role in democratizing tech. While open access can introduce vulnerabilities, it also fuels creativity and learning — a balance essential for innovation.
“When I founded Humane Intelligence, I purposely chose a nonprofit model. It was crucial for me to align with funders who cared about long-term, mission-oriented impact, rather than just chasing quarterly profits.”
This statement pivots the discussion to social enterprise. By prioritizing mission over margin, Dr. Chowdhury underscores how responsible AI can drive sustainable development and community empowerment.
“Quantitative social scientists belong on these teams — not just to philosophize, but to translate abstract policy mandates into measurable, technical specifications.”
Bridging the gap between policy and engineering, she emphasizes that the nuanced understanding of human behavior and societal measures is essential for building robust and fair AI systems.
“AI is borderless like air. We need global regulation to tackle it, yet recent trends suggest a future of ‘sovereign AI’ with fragmented approaches across nations.”
Her call for international cooperation is a reminder that technology transcends borders. In a world leaning toward nationalistic AI models, global regulation becomes imperative for ensuring ethical standards and collaborative innovation.
“The shortest answer to a better AI future is choice. People need the ability to decide which algorithms affect their lives — whether they’re users or creators.”
This sentiment brings the conversation back to the human element. Empowering choice is not merely a technical ideal; it’s a social imperative that can drive better outcomes for everyone.
“The journey toward responsible AI is aspirational. It isn’t about reaching a final state of unbiased perfection once and for all; it’s about continuously evolving and building systems that empower choice.”
In her concluding thought, Dr. Chowdhury encapsulates the ongoing nature of ethical innovation. Rather than seeking a fixed endpoint, she invites us to embrace a continual process of improvement that keeps human agency at its core.
Conclusion
Through these interlaced insights and reflective transitions, Dr. Rumman Chowdhury’s session at SXSW 2025 challenges us to reimagine AI as a force for good — one that, when guided by transparency, global cooperation, and user empowerment, can drive meaningful change across the globe.
We highly recommend you take the time to listen to conversation it its entirety:
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Note: Generative AI tools were used in the creation of this article to assist with research, summarization, and editing.
