#IamthefutureofAI Series: Merve Hickok
AIethicist.org Founder, Merve Hickok joins us in this series to share her inspiring career journey and how she’s continuing to do meaningful work in this space despite coming from a non-technical background.
To support our vision of an inclusive AI tech future, Women in AI Ethics (WAIE) has launched the “I am the future of AI” campaign event on
March 8th, 2022 — International Women’s Day with Ford Foundation and Omidyar Network. This campaign showcases multidisciplinary talent in this space by featuring career journeys and the work of women as well as non-binary folks from diverse backgrounds building the future of AI.
By raising awareness about the different pathways into AI and making it more accessible, we want to inspire participation from historically underrepresented groups so that together we can build a more equitable and ethical tech future.
AIethicist.org Founder, Merve Hickok joins us in this series to share her inspiring career journey and how she’s continuing to do meaningful work in this space despite coming from a non-technical background. She also opens up about overcoming different hurdles as well as her thoughts on diversity along with some encouraging words for individuals who are coming from non-technical backgrounds and are thinking of joining this space.
You can listen to the podcast or read through their conversation below.
Hello everyone, my name is Merve Hickok. I’m the Founder of AIethicist.org and Research Director at the Center of AI and Digital Policy. It is such an honor to be part of the I Am The Future Of AI campaign and have a chance to share some of my journey and experiences working as a social researcher, trainer, and consultant in AI ethics and policy space.
What really inspired you to join this space and how did you land your current role?
Back in 2010, I became responsible for Bank of America Merrill Lynch as diversity culture recruitment in recruitment technologies across Europe, Middle East, and Africa. I was the first one in this role and company gave me a lot of space to create and execute a strategy. I was benchmarking studies across our peer organizations, working with vendors on HR, build external relationships with minority student communities.
Through my conversations with them across numerous campuses and countries, I learned more about the impact of certain technologies and practices on different groups that make me link to my research more on emerging technologies, societal impacts, and social justice. And eventually I founded AIethicist.org.
One of the moments in this journey, which was both an enlightening moment and an inspiration to do more was when I was in a DE&I advocacy discussion. And we were doing an exercise which required us to basically reflect on different degrees of privilege that we had, or did not have across several exercises and then to reflect on how our life experiences different along those lines.
As an immigrant and woman of color, I could speak to certain experiences in my personal and professional life, where I had to work harder than others. However, the exercise made me realize that I had not considered or took for granted a number of things in my own life. In other words, I became more aware of what I didn’t know and what I should have known.
What kind of issues in AI do you tackle in your day-to-day work?
Across my work in AIethicist.org and CAIDP, I conduct research, training, and consulting on AI and data ethics and policy. My goal is to create awareness, build capacity, and advocate for ethical and responsible development and use of AI that respects fundamental rights and democratic values. This is with a particular focus on social justice and accountability. This means that I get to work with some amazing advocates, practitioners, and scholars around the world and learn from their experiences.
Coming from a non-traditional or non-technical background, what barriers did you encounter and how did you overcome them?
I come from a non-technical background, trained on political science and international relations. And my professional experience is human resources and organizational development. Coming into a field like AI can be at times intimidating. Not only because of the technical elements, but also because of the very homogeneous set of actors on power plays. Having gone through those myself, I’m even more excited about this campaign. I’m a very curious person and I am indebted to a number of people who were willing to answer my questions along the way, introduced me to new opportunities, and trust in me.
I try to do the same with newcomers and researchers in the fields and pay forward as much as I can. And also I curated AIethicist.org which makes the research and developments easier to follow and access.
Can you share with us your perspective on diversity?
The way that I see diversity is that variety of experiences and perspectives makes us humble. Makes us better.
From a product and service perspective, it makes our offerings work for more people in more helpful, inclusive, and effective ways. You cannot claim that you’re innovative and respect the future if you’re not embedding inclusiveness in everything you do.
What is your advice to those from non-traditional backgrounds who want to do meaningful work in this space on how to overcome barriers like tech bro culture, lack of ethical funding/opportunities, etc.?
My advice to those from non-traditional backgrounds who want to do meaningful work in this space is to find others who are working towards AI ethics. Collaborate, nurture, and do not be intimidated by this culture, the technology itself, or the barriers.
Every small win matters. You matter. Your experiences matter. And it takes a village to move this forward. The work of fighting for rights against injustices, and inequality in a very gendered tech or finance world can become lonely.
Be intentional. Think about how you can contribute to a better world or a workplace.
And if you have the capacity to fund, support, or mentor others, please do.
You were listening to an AI ethics career journey from the I AM THE FUTURE OF AI campaign series.
Merve Hickok is the Founder of AIethicist.org and Lighthouse Career Consulting.
She is a social researcher, independent consultant, and trainer on AI & data ethics and AI policy. Through her work on AI & fundamental rights, bias, social justice, and governance, she aims to create awareness, build capacity, and advocate for ethical and responsible development & use of AI.
Merve’s work intersects both AI ethics and AI policy and regulation. She has been recognized by a number of organizations — most recently as one of the 100 Brilliant Women in AI Ethics™ — 2021
Merve has over 15 years of VP-level global experience in Fortune 100, with a particular focus on HR technologies, recruitment, and DE&I.
She is a SHRM Certified Senior HR Professional and Career Coach certified by Neuroleadership Institute.
