TECHNOLOGY + AI

Dr. Safiya U. Noble is the David O. Sears Presidential Endowed Chair of Social Sciences and Professor of Gender Studies, African American Studies, and Information Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). She is the Director of the Center on Resilience & Digital Justice and Co-Director of the Minderoo Initiative on Tech & Power at the UCLA Center for Critical Internet Inquiry (C2i2). Dr. Noble is the author of the best-selling book Algorithms of Oppression: How Search Engines Reinforce Racism. In 2021, she was recognized as a MacArthur Foundation Fellow for her ground-breaking work on algorithmic discrimination.

Siva Vaidhyanathan speaks on the impact of digitalization on society and democracy. In his speeches, he encourages audiences to consider how technology like Google and social media shape the way we think, and what we can do to foster a new Internet ecosystem designed to benefit the whole world. He is a frequent contributor on media and cultural issues on public radio shows and news programs, notably BBC, CNN and NBC. Siva has authored several books, including Antisocial Media: How Facebook Disconnects Us and Undermines Democracy (Oxford University Press, 2018). His articles have appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Guardian and The Nation.

“I build technologies that remember—so the world can’t forget. Each line of code holds a testimony, each archive a reckoning. My work gathers what injustice tried to erase, and reimagines what justice has yet to be.”

Dr. Allissa V. Richardson is an award-winning journalist, author, and associate professor at USC Annenberg. She founded the Charlotta Bass Journalism & Justice Lab, where she leads the Second Draft Project—an AI-powered oral history initiative preserving the voices of those impacted by police violence. The three-time Harvard Fellow is the author of Bearing Witness While Black and the forthcoming Canceled (MIT Press). Her work explores reparative journalism, Black witnessing, and the ethics of emerging technologies in media.

Andrea Freeman is a national and international expert on the intersections of race and food policy, health, and consumer credit. An acclaimed author of two books, she is currently at work on a new project about the intersection of consumer credit, policy, and technology. Freeman is a professor at Southwestern Law School and was awarded the endowed Second Century Chair for her impactful contributions to legal education and scholarship. She has served on the Litigation Committee of the Hawaii chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, as a Fulbright King's College London U.S. Scholar, and a Vermont Law School Distinguished Scholar of Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems. Her work has been featured in publications including the Washington Post, New Yorker, USA Today, The Atlantic, and she has done interviews with news outlets and programs including CBS News and PBS News Hour.