x

75% of people globally want unbiased news (Pew Research) but are concerned they're not getting that.

Get balanced coverage with Symby. See how stories are covered across diverse outlets and spot when one side covers a story the other skips.

PODCAST

Activists Of Tech — The responsible tech podcast

Activists of Tech

Shifting the narrative from Big Tech to Responsible Tech by sharing & archiving the work of change makers.At the intersection of technology and social justice, Activists Of Tech is a seasonal weekly podcast dedicated to the amplification and archival of minority voices among activists, thought leaders, academics, and practitioners of responsible tech. Shifting the narrative from Big Tech to responsible tech takes honesty: this is a "say it as it is" type of podcast, and no topic is too taboo not

technology social sciences

All Episodes

28:29

Back to basics: Technofascism 101 with Emile Dirks...

Activists Of Tech — The responsible tech podcast ·

2025/09/16

After Trump was elected and tech oligarchs like Elon Musk, an unelected person, started to get power in decision making at the White House, the topic of technofascism got very popular. But this political trend of leveraging technology to empower fascist ideologies is nothing new. A lot has been written about technofascism in the 21st century, but I wanted to go back to the basics: what is fascism before technology? How do fascist movements use technology to take power and what kind of power dynamic

en

35:32

The datafication of refugees: humanitarian agencies &...

Activists Of Tech — The responsible tech podcast ·

2025/02/18

Biometrics – our fingerprints, faces, irises, for instance – are increasingly used to verify identity. But what happens when this data collection is applied to vulnerable populations, like refugees and asylum seekers, in ways that can remove agency rather than offer them protection? In the humanitarian space, organizations justify biometric data collection in a way to increase efficiency, yet stories have shown that such mechanisms can be weaponized: data handed over to oppressive governments,

en

37:30

Mapping for justice: from cartography to GIS, with...

Activists Of Tech — The responsible tech podcast ·

2025/02/07

If cartography, the ancestor of GIS, already displayed colonial patterns and racist stereotypes back in the day, why would the digital legacy of maps be any different? Maps have an authoritative value and hold power through the representation of the world from the perspective of who creates them. However, communities are often excluded from their design leading to the misrepresentation or omission of important landmarks and third places. In this episode, Cathy Richards explains why it is critical

en

23:42

How MyBranz fights fake online reviews to save the...

Activists Of Tech — The responsible tech podcast ·

2025/01/31

A few months ago, in August 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced a final rule banning fake reviews and testimonials, a rule that will allow to deter AI-generated fake reviews by prohibiting fake or false consumer reviews, consumer testimonials, and celebrity testimonials for instance. Now, if you have ever been online shopping, you know that this decision is pretty groundbreaking. How many of us have been deceived by fake reviews before buying a product? Not only is it a waste of

en

29:55

Quit Clicking Kids: protecting child influencers...

Activists Of Tech — The responsible tech podcast ·

2025/01/24

Since #KOSA, protecting kids online has continued to be a very hot topic. However, we often overlook the influence industry that also impacts kids online, for instance with the emergence of thousands of YouTube family channels. Horror stories of behind the scenes abuse have come out in recent news stories, in addition to the serious lack of protection when it comes to their privacy and their financial exploitation. Kids cannot give informed consent to become part of the family influence industry

en

37:15

How existing safety mitigation safeguards fail in...

Activists Of Tech — The responsible tech podcast ·

2025/01/17

Large Language Models, or LLMs, may be the most popular type of AI systems, often seen as an alternative to search engines, even though they should not as the information they throw at users only resemble and mimic human speech and is not always factual, among many other issues that are talked about in this episode. Our guest today is Khaoula Chehbouni, she is a PhD Student in Computer Science at McGill University and Mila (Quebec AI Institute). Khaoula was awarded the prestigious FRQNT Doctoral

en

34:25

Privacy under attack: how the Tor Project fights...

Activists Of Tech — The responsible tech podcast ·

2025/01/10

We’re all very used to being surveilled by now, especially through surveillance capitalism, or the commodification of our personal data - our age, location, mental state, shopping habits, tax bracket, are collected through various apps and websites and sold to thousands of third parties. On top of that, governments surveil their citizens, and it does not only happen in authoritarian States such as Russia, it also happens in the United States as well, where activists are watched by authorities

en

28:02

Queer Arab History, social media, and representation...

Activists Of Tech — The responsible tech podcast ·

2024/12/17

Queer Arabs are often portrayed as either hated by their own Arab community or as Western imports as if Queerness came along with colonialism. And online, queer voices are mostly from western countries and don’t represent Queer Arabs. However, Marwan Kaabour is challenging these narratives by researching, digitally archiving, and celebrating Queer History in the Middle East from centuries ago to the present day. Takweer, the Instagram page that Marwan started 5 years ago to take ownership of his own

en

41:41

History of tech, power relations, & archiving for...

Activists Of Tech — The responsible tech podcast ·

2024/12/03

Technology narratives are set in the present, and all of their promises set in the near future. We’ve heard about flying cars, automated jobs, robots able to annihilate Humanity, robots able to save Humanity, and went through many hype cycles, like crypto – a time that I personally tend to block from my memory. But looking at the past, at the evolution of technology, is actually critical for its impacts to be relevant and beneficial for everyone.We often say that History keeps repeating itself, so

en

32:26

Rethinking AI through Indigenous culture with Dane...

Activists Of Tech — The responsible tech podcast ·

2024/11/26

An interesting thing about AI systems is that without a deliberately designed structure to promote the concept of sharing, AI systems will focus solely on maximizing their individual rewards, even if this prevents them from successfully completing a task. This is fascinating, and Dane Malenfant is working on the long term credit assignment problem at MILA and McGill University, and researching solutions through an indigenous lens. Dane is a citizen of Métis Nation- Saskatchewan and originally from

en

34:34

Online education, AI Ethics, & a vision for global...

Activists Of Tech — The responsible tech podcast ·

2024/11/19

More often than not, on Activists of Tech, we talk about the problems caused by technology and the solutions or alternatives to these issues. And I kind of feel guilty because I don’t want to convey the idea that AI is inherently bad. Though the mainstream culture surrounding AI certainly is, we have agency over what we create, over the AI systems we design and on how they impact others. Today’s guest is a great example and she is nothing short of inspiring: Dr Kadian Davis-Owusu has turned her

en

34:34

Hope & imagining a better world with B Cavello from...

Activists Of Tech — The responsible tech podcast ·

2024/11/12

This episode was initially scheduled to be released in mid-December, but it was actually recorded last week, specifically one day after the American elections took place and after Trump was re-elected. B and I briefly talked about the elections in this episode, but I decided to edit and release earlier because B radically tries to move us forward and their dedication and energy made me feel so much better and hopefully this episode will make you feel better as well. In this episode, B Cavello,

en

55:51

Expanding access to art using technology with Colin...

Activists Of Tech — The responsible tech podcast ·

2024/11/05

Culture, the arts, or what makes humans.. Humans. Yet it is not accessible to just everyone. When you think about it, how do you make a play accessible to visually or hearing impaired people? How can we use technology to translate art into senses they were not designed for in the first place? How does tech and art relate to disability justice?More often than not, people with disabilities are not included in the design process of artistic spaces that are not accessible and don’t accommodate bodies

en

41:24

No voice unheard: Making digital archives inclusive...

Activists Of Tech — The responsible tech podcast ·

2024/10/29

We produce a LOT of data, tweet for any reason, post a gazillion pictures online, and that somehow will give an idea to future generations about who we are and where we are at culturally speaking. Of course, and thankfully, not every digital content is archived, it has to have cultural or historical significance. But how do you determine that? Who should decide which stories get to be archived or unarchived? Are colonial dynamics taken into consideration when archiving contemporary records and what

en

22:41

Leveraging AI for Justice in Nigeria and beyond with...

Activists Of Tech — The responsible tech podcast ·

2024/10/22

Facing an injustice and requiring legal representation is a tedious, complex, and time-consuming process, on top of being expensive and not affordable by everyone who needs help. This hurdle greatly contributes to the prevalence of injustices, and today we are focusing on the case of a Nigerian non -profit, Citizens’ Gavel that is addressing this hurdle and leveraging AI to promote access to justice.Created, hosted and produced by Mélissa M'Raidi-Kechichian.

en

31:33

Surveillance in the Bay Area and beyond with Nidhi Sinha

Activists Of Tech — The responsible tech podcast ·

2024/10/15

Growing up in the Bay area with a future drawn for her, Nidhi Sinha did everything she was supposed to do: go to a private high school, pursue a degree in Computer Science and Mathematics, and work at a Big Tech company in the Bay. Until she got into AI ethics and burst the bubble she had grown in. What happens when surveillance happens in your own backyard, and the Big Tech companies you were told to reach for growing up are responsible for the harm of communities locally and beyond borders?Nidhi

en

43:45

AI powered K-12 education fiasco with Shana V. White

Activists Of Tech — The responsible tech podcast ·

2024/10/08

AI products and features are becoming ubiquitous. When the targets of AI systems are children in school, it should be common sense that the impacts of these technologies should be assessed before reaching the “market” and the privacy of kids subjected to them should be the number one priority of school boards. Of course, it’s not, and serious questions arise. How does the AI hype and the mass deployment of AI “solutions” impact education in the United States? What are the risks and benefits for the

en

49:48

How to fix the patriartech with Mia Shah-Dand,...

Activists Of Tech — The responsible tech podcast ·

2024/10/01

Sexism and oppression are tied to culture, which in turn impacts the tech industry, tech design and deployment. To talk about the relationship between the patriarchy, women in tech, and how to fight back, I talked with Mia Shah-Dand, founder of Women in AI ethics and creator of the 100 Brilliant Women in AI Ethics. In this episode, Mia talks about her personal story and upbringing, what women have to put up with when they work in tech, gender based violence enabled by technologies, diversity in

en

37:25

Environmental justice, social media, and the promises...

Activists Of Tech — The responsible tech podcast ·

2024/05/31

The Digital Services Act was recently passed in the European Union, and I wondered how did this piece of regulation related to climate change and how did it impact online activism? In this episode, Rachel Griffin, PhD candidate and lecturer in law at Sciences Po Paris, talks about the intersections between platform regulation and digital justice, the impacts of tech on the environment, shadow banning, and more. Check out Rachel’s policy brief on environmental risks in the DSA:

en

31:33

"Every bubble will burst at some point": digital...

Activists Of Tech — The responsible tech podcast ·

2024/05/31

Did you know that encryption could save lives? In this episode, Elina Eickstaedt, spokesperson at the Chaos Computer Club, answers my questions with no BS about privacy, surveillance, German and European tech policies and their impacts, surveillance capitalism, and explains why tech solutionism is not the magical answer to all of our problems.

en

34 results

Similar Podcasts

Pantomath

PANTOMATH

What"s New

WIRED

Security, Spoken

WIRED

Ben Wehrman Podcast

Ben Wehrman

MacMagazine no Ar

MacMagazine.com.br