Ms. Bartoletti is the Global Chief Privacy and AI Governance Officer at multinational IT company Wipro, an Advisor to the Council of Europe, and co-founder of the Women Leading in AI network.
She is concerned about the lack of representation of women and the Global South in the AI industry.
She said: united nations news December at the 2024 Internet Governance Forum in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, an annual United Nations forum to discuss important digital policy issues.
This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
Ivana Bartoletti In Europe, only 28% of the workforce in the AI industry are women, and this has devastating consequences. Each AI product is made up of elements chosen by people. So not having enough women and diversity in the conversation is problematic. But it’s not just about having more female coders and programmers. It is also a story about the people who decide the future of artificial intelligence.
The biases inherent in these tools have been a central topic of every panel I have attended at the Internet Governance Forum and how we can ensure that the Global South has a much stronger voice.
united nations news What advice would you give to women and girls who are interested in working in this field?
Ivana Bartoletti There are many ways to approach AI and technology, and you don’t necessarily have to be a coder. I have always been interested in the politics of data. For example, when we talk about databases, the way data is collected is not neutral and someone decides what data gets included. Therefore, AI’s predictions about us are not neutral.
We need women and people from diverse backgrounds to engage in AI governance, auditing, and investigative journalism to understand where AI is going wrong.
UN News/Martin Saman
Ivana Bartoletti, co-founder of the Women Leading in AI network.
united nations news How can we ensure that AI systems are deployed in a fair and transparent way?
Ivana Bartoletti There is a lot of collaboration between governments, the private sector, big technology, business and civil society. But more is needed, as the need for accuracy and transparency may increasingly become legal requirements.
Conversations must take place in all countries to ensure that AI does not exacerbate existing inequalities in society or make the internet more dangerous.
united nations news In a world where it’s easy for fake videos, images and misinformation to spread, how do we ensure everyone understands how to safely use the technology they’re exposed to?
Ivana Bartoletti I believe that education is important to develop critical thinking, and AI literacy, including in schools, is also important. But training cannot replace business responsibility. Because there are too many asymmetries between us as individuals, the scale of data collection, and the power of large technology companies..
It is completely unfair to say that individuals are responsible for their online safety. I believe the ability to leverage AI is important, but the responsibilities for AI include: The companies that market the products and the government that regulates their use.
