An executive at the Responsible AI Institute (RAI) has raised concerns over the lack of diversity among the founding members of a new advisory group established by Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook.
Alyssa Lefaivre Škopac, Head of Global Partnerships and Growth at RAI, expressed her dismay at the composition of the panel, which consists entirely of four white male entrepreneurs. She emphasized the importance of diversity in such groups to avoid overlooking blind spots or potential biases that may arise from a homogenous perspective.
The Meta Advisory Group, according to Meta’s website, is tasked with advising the company’s management team on strategic opportunities related to technology and product development.
The members include:
- Patrick Collison, co-founder and CEO of Stripe;
- Nat Friedman, an entrepreneur and investor;
- Tobi Lütke, CEO of Shopify; and technology investor Charlie Songhurst.
Škopac criticized the formation of the advisory group, highlighting the lack of diversity in both perspectives and backgrounds. She stressed the need for representation from civil society and other ecosystem partners, in addition to technology companies, to ensure a well-rounded perspective.
Furthermore, she emphasized the importance of including diverse functions within such groups, such as compliance, legal, HR, and procurement, alongside technology teams. According to Škopac, the members of advisory councils governing AI must have the authority to make decisions and direct initiatives from a responsible AI standpoint.
The formation of diverse AI teams is crucial, as highlighted in a recent Gartner research paper titled “How to Advance AI Without Sacrificing Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.” The paper underscores the impact of biases in AI models on enterprise diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, as well as the risks posed by unintended biases, including gender, confirmation, and racial bias, on AI deployment.
Source: cio.com
