(US & Canada) VIDEO | We Should Consider the Unintended Consequences of Technology — Texas Department of Family and Protective Services CDAO

Besa Bauta, Chief Data and Analytics Officer, Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, speaks in a video interview with Asha Saxena, Founder and CEO of WLDA.tech, about the about ethical and responsible use of AI, and the importance of considering the unintended consequences of technology.

Speaking about the ethical and responsible use of AI Bauta says that she always considers the intended and unintended consequences of any type of application.

Taking the instance of nuclear energy, she states that while developing the atom bomb, none of the researchers or scientists thought about the unintended consequences like the impact of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Citing another example, Bauta refers to a project her daughter was working on. It explored the unintended consequences of pharmaceuticals like antidepressants flowing into waterways and affecting ecosystems, leading to behavior change in other organisms.

She stresses that these unintended consequences are key and mentions the recent open letter by the top IT voices warning about the unintended consequences of AI.

Speaking further on the topic, Bauta says that the human race needs to collectively think about its footprint and consider ways to leverage technologies like AI to achieve goals and live harmoniously.

She also suggests building novel solutions to address issues like environmental and climate change, and personalized healthcare delivery that fill voids and improve the quality of life.

Later into the conversation, Saxena shifts the focus to the issues around diversity. She points out that most of the new technologies are built by one gender or one type of people. This makes it even more important to have diversity in teams, and the data sets, and make it a practice.

Saxena also pins the responsibility of ensuring diversity on leaders like heads of data/AI, Chief Data Officers, and Chief Information Officers, along with their partners on the business side who engage with the technologies.

CDO Magazine appreciates Besa Bauta for sharing her invaluable insights with our global community.