The drive for inclusivity and diversity is transforming the artificial intelligence industry, pushing for fair access, diverse perspectives and innovative solutions.

Enterprise leaders are tackling biases in AI development to create more equitable and resilient technologies. As these efforts gain momentum, the emphasis on representation and inclusivity is becoming a cornerstone of the industry’s future.

Rebecca Knight and Rob Strechay discuss inclusivity and diversity in AI as part of the day three keynote analysis at Informatica World.

“When you look at how we’re training AI, how we’re going and utilizing these things in bots, you don’t want them to have one point of view or come from one point of view,” said Rob Strechay (pictured, right), principal analyst at theCUBE Research. “Because if they’re not neurodiverse like the community that are your customers in your organization, you’re really going to run into trouble.”

Strechay was joined fellow analyst Rebecca Knight (left) for the day three keynote analysis at Informatica World, during an exclusive broadcast on theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s livestreaming studio. They discussed the critical need for diversity and inclusivity in AI and data management, as well as how they will play a pivotal role in shaping the future of technology and its impact on enterprise tech. (* Disclosure below.)

Breaking barriers in technology

Day three discussions at Informatica World were enriched by keynotes from influential women leaders who shared their career journeys and the biases they overcame. These speakers, hailing from prestigious organizations, such as the United Nations, DFW Airport and The Chubb Corp., emphasized the importance of inclusivity in data management, according to Knight.

“It was four very impressive women up there talking about biases they faced early on and how they broke through,” she said. “I also thought the way they talked about technology and the way they talked about this moment in time that we’re living through was really interesting, almost from an anthropological standpoint.”

Denise Rogers, global head of data and literacy at Chubb, delivered a powerful message on the necessity of having women in significant roles within the tech industry. Women need a permanent, impactful seat at the table, not a temporary or token presence, Rogers said during her keynote.

“That’s really so important for the representation,” Knight said. “This is really having women’s ideas, their perspectives, their points of view in the conversation.”

The importance of inclusivity and diversity

AI systems, often created by homogeneous groups, can unintentionally reflect the biases of their creators. Ensuring a diverse development team can help mitigate these biases and produce more equitable technology solutions.

“We get to hear more out of the executives about the vision, how they’re going to go to market, how the partners are a big piece of that and how we also see the customers leveraging this technology to move their AI strategies forward,” Strechay said.

Young talents should be engaged in core technological tasks, not relegated to peripheral roles, according to keynote speaker LeVar Burton, actor, presenter, director, author, podcaster and founder at LeVar Burton Entertainment, who spoke about the importance of representation and its impact on career aspirations in the tech industry.

“Bringing those TV lessons to realities today of AI and how we need to be flexible and be open and stay curious and all those things that we learned from ‘Star Trek’ [that] these technology executives need to be thinking about today,” Knight said, in reference to Burton’s time on the TV show.

Here’s the complete video interview, part of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE Research’s coverage of Informatica World:

(* Disclosure: TheCUBE is a paid media partner for Informatica World. Neither Informatica Inc., the sponsor of theCUBE’s event coverage, nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE