Technology And Society

I’m so over the "tech bro" narrative in AI. ✋ If we let a handful of guys in a Silicon Valley bubble build the entire future, they’re going to build a world that doesn’t even know women exist. The AI world is starving for people who actually understand how the real world works. These 6 women just showed up and rewrote the rules: 1. Dr. Joy Buolamwini: When she realized AI couldn't "see" her face without a white mask, she didn't just file a complaint. She took the fight to IBM and Amazon until they pulled facial recognition tech from police use. Lesson: When the system is blind to you, don’t ask for glasses. Build a new system. 2. Timnit Gebru: She called out bias from inside Google. They fired her. So, she built her own independent research institute to study AI without a corporate muzzle. Lesson: Getting pushed out by the big players usually means you’re too dangerous for their narrative. 3. Lila Ibrahim: No "startup kid" origin story here. She spent 18 years at Intel before scaling Google DeepMind. Lesson: You don’t have to be the "founder" to be the smartest operator in the room. 4. Jaime Teevan: The brain making sure Microsoft’s AI actually helps humans work instead of just making noise. She’s obsessed with the human result, not just the engineering. Lesson: Empathy is a technical requirement. 5. Noelle R.: She saw a world of executives secretly terrified of AI and built a bridge for them. She’s shown 3.4 million people that AI isn't magic...it’s a tool. Lesson: Confusion is always an opening for leadership. 6. Susan Gonzales: Founded AIandYou to make sure AI education didn’t stay locked in expensive boardrooms. Lesson: Social impact and cutting-edge tech are not opposites. If you feel like you’ve "missed the boat" on AI, throw that thought away. Our perspective, "battle scars," and our lived experience are the only things that will keep this tech from flying off the rails. The future is being written right now. Don’t just read it. Grab the pen. 🖋️ P.S. Who is a woman in tech who makes you think, "If she can do it, I definitely can"? Tag her below and let’s give her some flowers today. 👇💕 #ai #womenintech #executivepresence #leadership #futureofwork

I work in AI. And I worry it’s the biggest risk to women in history. I'm not talking about AI writing assistants. I mean the systems quietly embedding some of the most harmful ideas about women—often without anyone noticing. After hearing Laura Bates speak about her new book today, 'The New Age of Sexism: How the AI Revolution is Reinventing Misogyny', I left the room equally enraged and shaken. But I'm not going to look away. I’m in my 40s. I’ve spent over two decades in male-dominated industries. Like many women, I’ve experienced everyday sexism (and less everyday)—often so normalised I didn’t realise it at the time. Sexism is scaling faster and deeper than ever but it's covert. Because this time, the bias isn’t only cultural, it’s algorithmic, scalable, and it’s invisible—until it’s not. And what's most scary is I work in AI and I didn't realise the scale—so what chance does everyone else have. Here’s what we’re already seeing: – AI girlfriend and chatbot apps—downloaded by hundreds of millions—encourage submissive behaviour and compliance by design. What does this mean for behaviour in the real world? – Images of real women used to create synthetic avatars or s** robots – New profiles of teenage boys on social platforms shown extreme misogynistic content within minutes of joining – AI hiring tools filtering out CVs for words like “netball”—even when anonymised—because they don’t match male-coded patterns of success This is happening now. It’s shaping how women are seen, heard, and valued—online, at work, and in life by hundreds of millions of people today—how many tomorrow? As someone who advises on AI in the workplace, I know this tech has enormous potential to meet so many of our challenges today. It can surface hidden patterns of discrimination. It can improve access to credit, jobs, and healthcare. It can actually support inclusion—if we build it with care. But without ethical guardrails, it will replicate and accelerate the very inequalities we should be solving. Which it is doing right now. Yes we need international regulation to get accountability for companies profiting from misogynistic systems. Yes we need more women in AI (80% of AI firms are male-led) and we need women-led businesses to be invested in to the same level at men. That's going to take a while. Here's what I'm going to do: ✅ Challenge myself, my team and my clients to ask: Who might this tool overlook? Who is it really serving? ✅ Push for transparency, fairness, and safety by design ✅ Support more women to shape, lead, and fund the future of AI ✅ Do everything I can to lobby for regulation To the men reading this: you are huge part of the solution. Boys are being shaped by algorithms—but they listen more to men they know & trust. 📚 Have you read 'The New Age of Sexism' by Laura Bates? What did you think? https://lnkd.in/eTYMZ6MM Thank you Laura.

Quantum Computing and Defense: The Next Strategic Frontier Quantum computing presents major implications for future military and defense technology. Based on available public and government data, five nations are leading global investment in quantum research with dual-use (civil and defense) potential: 🇨🇳 China ↳ Estimated $15 billion in national quantum R&D funding ↳ PLA-linked institutes developing quantum communication and sensing ↳ Quantum satellite demonstrations for secure communication ↳ Leads globally in quantum patents and publications 🇺🇸 United States ↳ Multi-billion-dollar investment through the National Quantum Initiative ↳ Coordination across DOE, NSF, DOD, and NIST ↳ Defense projects via DARPA and Air Force Research Lab ↳ Focus on quantum cryptography, simulation, and sensing systems 🇪🇺 European Union ↳ Over €10 billion committed by EU and member states collectively ↳ Quantum Flagship (€1 billion) drives collaborative R&D ↳ Focus on dual-use sensors, communications, and aircraft systems ↳ Partnerships across Germany, France, and the Netherlands 🇬🇧 United Kingdom ↳ £2.5 billion (≈ $3 billion) through the National Quantum Strategy ↳ MOD projects in quantum radar, navigation, and timing ↳ Strong collaboration between government, academia, and industry ↳ Clear pathway toward operational defense applications 🇨🇦 Canada ↳ CAD 360 million through the National Quantum Strategy ↳ Partnerships between universities and the Department of National Defence ↳ Research focused on secure communications and quantum simulation ↳ Active contributor within NATO’s emerging tech discussions These investments reflect each nation's strategic priorities in next-generation defense capabilities. The data shows substantial government commitment across all five countries, with varying approaches to implementation. What trends do you see in your country's technology investments? Share your thoughts on defense technology development ♻️ Repost to help people in your network Follow me for more defense technology analysis

🇺🇦 More lessons from 4 years of Ukrainian resistance to Russian warfare : « information defence for democratic resilience » By the Digital Policy Hub & Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI) By Halyna Padalko, PhD 🛡️ On the defensive side, government centres, venture-backed start-ups and non-governmental organization (NGO) watchdogs run machine-learning (ML) pipelines that produce real-time alerts on coordinated inauthentic behaviour, deepfake videos and narrative shifts. ⚔️ On the offensive side, ministries employ generative media, from multilingual subtitling to synthetic spokespeople such as “Victoria Shi” to deliver rapid, values-aligned messages that galvanize support abroad and bolster morale at home, while precision deepfake “counterpunches” sow confusion in hostile audiences. 🇺🇦 Ukraine’s response is effective because it is deliberately plural: 🔹military intelligence and stratcom units plug directly into AI platforms built by start-ups such as Osavul, LetsData, Open Minds and Mantis Analytics, while investigative newsrooms Texty.org.ua and fact-checking NGOs such as VoxUkraine and Detector Media use similar tools to contextualize or debunk falsehoods. 🔹This networked architecture accelerates innovation and diffuses verification capacity across society, creating an “information shield” that denies Russia’s disinformation campaigns the “oxygen” of surprise. 🔹Rapid legislative reform (for example, Media Law 2022, Advertising Law 2023) and alignment with the EU Digital Services Act (DSA) provide legal scaffolding for transparency, user rights and platform accountability. In parallel, the Ukraine’s Ministry of Digital Transformation’s WINWIN AI Centre of Excellence is spearheading a Ukrainian-language large language model (LLM) to anchor domestic AI services and reduce dependence on foreign tech. 🎓Ukraine treats education as national security. Media literacy rates surged, driven by state programs (Filter), massive open online courses (Diia.Education) and hands-on academies (PROMPTO). 🔹Grassroots hackathons and EU-supported training translate civic awareness into professional skill sets, ensuring that technical advances are matched by a population capable of critical consumption.

After a couple of train trips to the CBD last week, I’m midway through 'The New Age of Sexism' by Laura Bates. It has been both fascinating and deeply unsettling to sit with the realities she describes. Bates paints a clear picture of how the inequalities and oppressions of our current world are being “baked into the very foundations” of the digital future we are building at speed. Technologies like the metaverse, AI-generated content, and deepfake pornography are not just neutral tools; they carry forward existing harms, often amplifying them in ways that are harder to prevent, regulate, or even detect. One idea that particularly struck me is her description of the “make it now and fix any safety issues later” approach in emerging tech. This is an attitude we would never tolerate in the offline world and yet, in the online and virtual world, this has become the default operating model. Women and other minoritised groups are, as Bates writes, the “canaries in the coal mine.” Their abuse and suffering provide the early warning signals, the data points that allow companies to tweak systems, while continuing to profit in the meantime. It is a chilling reminder of whose safety is deprioritised when innovation and profits are valued above responsibility. Safety should not be an optional add-on, or a ‘later stage’ consideration. If these technologies really are the foundations of our future society, then safety, equity, and accountability must be treated as the baseline.

Six and a half years ago, we introduced a simple yet radical idea: the state must work for the people, not the other way around. The Ministry of Digital Transformation didn’t just change perceptions of public services — we changed the very model of the state. In 2019, the President set the goal of building a “state in a smartphone.” Skeptics said it was impossible. Today, it’s an everyday reality for millions of Ukrainians. Every Ukrainian has felt the results of our work. Diia is a true lovemark for Ukrainians. Over 23 million users. Fewer lines, less paperwork, no bribes — over the years, Diia has saved the state and its citizens ₴184 billion. Fifty-eight percent of Ukrainians say outright: digitalization is the most effective way to fight corruption. Russia is destroying our telecom infrastructure, yet even so, we delivered what many considered “impossible”: 🔸 Ukraine ranks No. 1 globally for fixed internet stability. 🔸 97% 4G coverage. 🔸 8,000 villages and towns connected to the internet for the first time. 🔸 Ukraine is the first non-EU country to join EU roaming. 🔸 Starlink Direct to Cell. 🔸 5G in Lviv. Fifty thousand Starlink terminals provide connectivity at the front line, in hospitals, schools, and Points of Invincibility. UNITED24 has united the world around Ukraine. Last year alone, the platform raised $1.86 billion for thousands of drones and munitions, hundreds of unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) and other vehicles, AI-controlled turrets, and various other types of military equipment. We also launched Mriia — the world’s No. 1 education product for students, parents, and teachers. It’s a next-generation ecosystem that helps every child realize their potential and become who they dream of being. Today, Diia.City includes 3,400+ companies, nearly 140,000 employees, and ₴34.6 billion in taxes paid in 2025, double the previous figure. Right now, however, the main focus is the war. We fight with technology. We launched the Army of Drones, which stopped the enemy’s advance at the start of the full-scale invasion. Brave1 has become the largest angel investor in Ukrainian defense tech and has scaled from drones to the production of UGVs and missiles. The cluster is already running joint programs with European partners and helped Ukrainian startups raise $105 million in venture investment in 2025 alone. We introduced the Army of Drones.Bonus system and are already seeing its impact. The Defense Forces receive high-quality battlefield data; units order equipment through the innovative Brave1 Market, an “Amazon for war”; and enemy losses are growing every month—over 30,000 Russians eliminated in December. Today, the Ministry of Digital Transformation is the most effective ministry in the country. Digitalization is the number one reform in terms of public trust. We didn’t promise. We delivered. Ukraine can be fast. Ukraine can be technological. Ukraine can be a leader.

For years, companies have ramped up the surveillance of their employees, often without the employees' knowledge (or consent): monitoring what websites they accessed, their phone calls, their keystrokes, the speed with which they drove, and numerous other things. As this piece points out, the advent of AI makes actually analyzing all the tracking data much easier and less expensive, so the surveillance industry is about to get even bigger. In the U.S., when employees go to work, they give up their rights--to speak, to privacy, to criticize their companies and their decisions, and so many other things. As this piece also notes and as social science research has frequently demonstrated, job autonomy is an important determinant of motivation. With people under ever more monitoring, it is little wonder that job satisfaction and engagement, and for that matter trust in organizations, has fallen. When will companies learn to value human intelligence and motivation as much as they value the artificial variety? #motivation #surveillance #bossware #management #leadership #jobautonomy

[Techno-Patriarchy: How AI is Misogyny’s New Clothes Gender discrimination is baked into artificial intelligence by design and it’s in the interests of tech bros. In my day job, I support our clients using AI to accelerate the discovery of new drugs and materials. I can see the benefits of this technology to the people and the planet. But there is a dark side too. That’s the reason tech -       Disregards women’s needs and experiences when developing AI solutions. -       Deflects its accountability in automating and increasing online harassment -       Purposely reinforces gender stereotypes -       Operationalises menstrual surveillance -       Sabotages women’s businesses and activism I substantiate each of the points above with real examples and the impact on the lives of women.   Fortunately, not all is doom and gloom.   Because insanity is to do the same thing and expect a different outcome, I also share what we need to start doing differently to develop AI that works for women too.   #EthicalAI #InclusiveAI #MisogynisticAI #BiasedAI #Patriarchy #InclusiveTech #WomenInTech #WomenInBusiness

✈️ 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝗗𝗲𝗳𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗲 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗴𝗺: 𝗖𝗮𝗻 𝗜𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗮 𝗕𝗲 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗧𝗲𝗰𝗵 𝗔𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱 𝗡𝗲𝗲𝗱𝘀? The India-Pakistan border skirmishes still focused on traditional warfare: planes ✈️, missiles 🚀, and air commands 🛩️. But while we’re locked in these skirmishes, a larger threat looms. If the Russia-Ukraine war has taught the world anything, it’s that the future battlefield looks more like a Silicon Valley hackathon than a scene from a war movie. 🎮💻 While we were busy arguing over who invented zero, the world quietly decided that the next war won’t be fought with tanks but with flying toasters armed with AI and an existential crisis. And then came Ukraine—three years into an intense real-world defense startup accelerator, with fatal consequence. Imagine Y Combinator, but instead of pitching to VCs, you’re dodging missiles while perfecting drone AI, and a failed pitch = death. Talk about high stakes! In a caffeine-fueled conversation that lasted longer than most arranged marriages ☕💍, I had the privilege of chatting with Jesper Ilsøe—a man deeply immersed in Europe’s evolving defense-tech landscape. His perspective was clear: Europe, flush with cash and a front-row seat to the Ukraine crisis 🎯, is rapidly rewriting its defense playbook. Ukraine’s battlefield has become the ultimate testing ground for new-age warfare: 🤖 AI-enabled drones 🦅 Autonomous swarms ⚡ Real-time decision systems straight out of a sci-fi script But here’s the kicker: they’re still figuring it out, and they need a lot of tech talent. And that’s where India has a classic opportunity to partner—not with bravado, but with humility and value. 🙏 🌍 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗢𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆: 𝗘𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗠𝗲𝗲𝘁𝘀 𝗪𝗲𝘀𝘁 (𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗪𝗶𝗻𝘀) 🌏 🇪🇺 Europe brings the budgets and battlefield experience. 🇮🇳 India brings 40 million engineers who can build scalable tech solutions before the kettle whistles for chai ☕. Imagine AI models trained on real combat data 📊, swarms of affordable autonomous drones 🚁, and battlefield decision engines 💡—perfectly poised to turn Europe’s wartime learnings into scalable, global defense solutions. Let’s not pretend we have all the answers. But we certainly have the talent, the hunger, and the capacity to co-create the solutions the world will need tomorrow. 🚀 📢 𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗧𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁 So, while the US is busy printing dollars 💸 and Europe is digging into defense budgets like it’s Black Friday 🛍️, India has a unique chance to build lasting partnerships. Not just as a supplier, but as a strategic co-creator. And who knows? The next global unicorn 🦄 might just be a defense-tech startup headquartered in Bengaluru 🏢, with an R&D center in Berlin 🏗️—and a drone somewhere negotiating its salary review in binary code 🤖📈. BlueGreen Ventures

For 60 Years, Kids’ TV Cast Boys As ‘Doers’ And Girls As Passive, Study Suggests: “New research reveals that the language in children’s television is reinforcing harmful gender stereotypes, and that little has improved in 60 years. In some cases, the gender bias is getting worse over time. The study, published this week in Psychological Science, examined scripts from 98 children’s television programs in the U.S. spanning from 1960 to 2018. The researchers employed natural language processing tools to examine which words were more likely to be associated with male characters and which were more likely to be associated with female characters. In total, they analyzed 6,600 episodes, 2.7 million sentences and 16 million words. Among the shows studied were classics like The Flintstones (1960) and more modern series like The Powerpuff Girls (2016) and Lost in Space (2018). In particular, the researchers examined how often male and female characters were portrayed as active agents (those who do) versus passive recipients (those who are done to). They found that boys are ‘doers’ while girls are the ‘done-tos.’ Perhaps most shockingly, when the researchers examined how this language has changed over time, they found that it hadn’t. The gender gap in who takes action in these programs hasn’t improved in six decades. Given the amount of time children spend watching television, the study authors suggest that those who watch these programs will develop biased ideas about how women and men behave in the real world. ‘These biases aren’t just about who gets more lines; they’re about who gets to act, lead, and shape the story. Over time, such patterns can quietly teach children that agency belongs more naturally to boys than to girls, even when no one intends that message,’ professor of psychology at NYU and an author on the paper Andrei Cimpian explained in a press release. AI learning models that train on program scripts pose an additional threat of perpetuating the gender bias. The study authors explain in their paper, “The rising popularity of script-writing programs powered by artificial intelligence (AI), which are trained on language from pre-existing screenplays, adds urgency to the goal of uncovering social biases in the language in children’s media.’ As technology continues to evolve, it becomes increasingly important to understand the messages we’re sending.” Read more 👉 https://lnkd.in/e5g6Z8WF ✍️ Article by Kim Elsesser #WomenInSTEM #GirlsInSTEM #STEMGems #GiveGirlsRoleModels