Artificial intelligence scientist, entrepreneur and investor Rana el Kaliouby worries that artificial intelligence could become another “boys’ club” in the tech industry. At the SXSW conference in Austin on Sunday, el Kaliouby shared her view that a lack of diversity in the field could lead to economic disadvantages for women in tech, with further ramifications.
“I think AI today is a boys’ club. I think diversity is not a very popular topic of discussion these days, but I think it’s so important because AI creates incredible economic opportunities,” el Kaliouby said on stage, when asked if the perception of AI being a boys’ club was a myth. (The interviewer pointed to a series of headlines from TechCrunch featuring AI startups with male founders to illustrate the point.)
El Kaliouby, who sold emotion-detection software company Affectiva in 2021 and is now a co-founder and general partner at Blue Tulip Ventures, said three out of four investments at her firm are in startups with female CEOs.
“I don’t invest ‘only’ in women,” he clarified. “But I’m really trying to seek out these female founders and support them, if not with a check, but in other ways, because they don’t have the opportunity that they should and that they need.”
“If women are left out — because they’re not starting these companies, because they’re not getting the funding, because they’re not even investing in the capital that’s investing in these companies — we’re going to look back five years from now or a decade from now, and…we’ll have widened the economic gap like crazy.
Her reference to the current “unpopularity” of the issue of diversity follows that of the Trump administration overthrow Diversity, Equality and Inclusion (DEI) programs and initiativeswhich then spread to the technology industry. These changes are not only affecting how tech companies hire, but also how their products are developed. In artificial intelligence, for example, companies may feel pressure to align the results of their models with White House priorities.
For el Kaliouby, the lack of diversity isn’t just about the potential for economic disadvantage, she said — it’s about the bottom line.
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“I think we live in a very exciting time. But I also feel strongly that if we don’t step in, like, if we don’t really stand up for what we care about like ethics and diversity of thought and perspective, and prioritizing that idea of focusing on people … the outcome might not be great,” he added. “So I feel like it’s a very critical time to use our voices and our leadership to shape where this goes.”
