(US & Canada) VIDEO | Diversity of Ideas is Fundamental for Good AI — UCLA Anderson School of Management CIO

Howard Miller, Chief Information Officer of UCLA Anderson School of Management speaks with Asha Saxena, Founder and CEO of WLDA.tech, in the CDO Magazine's Women's History Month series of video interviews, about the supporting women in tech as a male ally, the impact of AI in higher education, the need for organizational change management, and fostering women leaders across industries.

As a male ally celebrating Women’s History Month, Miller points out the striking male predominance in the tech sector and beyond that. He mentions seeing panels of old white males in conferences and recalls Helen Norris, a woman leader in IT and data finding herself unrepresented at conferences.

Adding further, Miller states that no one can contribute without representation. He notes that with such massive AI expansion since 2023, an organization must stop taking the vision of older white males regarding training models, use cases, and foundational information.

Miller asserts that looking at these aspects as the old white male shapes the AI that way and leaves no scope for diversity. Therefore, having representation of women allows understanding from an additional lens about using and training AI.

In the higher education sector, specifically at Columbia and UCLA, Miller mentions being involved with all-women leadership teams, which had a much different paradigm. He further appreciates being a part of the WLDA and witnessing a diverse leadership.

Moving forward, Miller shares that at his organization, he has been on the bandwagon of chasing AI in higher education for a year. He recalls working on a chatbot-building project at Columbia and states that generative AI has come a long way since then.

Furthermore, Miller shares that there was a sense of confusion in the higher education area when ChatGPT came out. Institutions were unclear about the policy and guardrails to be set up, how to use it, and the fear of being replaced by AI.

Additionally, Miller believes there must be a way where it can be responsibly used to supplement the educational process, and not looked at as cheating. However, that calls for organizational change management and requires the entire ecosystem of students and teachers to change the norm and apply the learning models differently.

Miller further states that organizations are assessing use cases around AI that work best. He adds that in the current scenario, organizations owe it to the students to teach them how to use this technology and urges the faculty to change the approach.

Shedding light on challenges, Miller mentions organizational change management as the biggest challenge followed by unknown costs, and doing it responsibly. He then addresses the concerns around data as the models built are as good as the data going into them.

Therefore, data cleanliness, ethics, and biases of data are major concerns as an organization starts its AI and generative AI journey. Delving further, Miller states that organizations are at the outset with AI and if it is dealt with a traditional approach, the outcomes will not meet the current industry needs. He then advocates having more women in leadership to truly represent industry and society in 2024.

To have good AI, it is fundamental to have a diversity of thought and ideas, which makes it crucial to involve women in AI, says Miller. Celebrating Women's History Month, he dedicates it to his two daughters and his wife.

CDO Magazine appreciates Howard Miller for sharing his invaluable insights with our global community.