Impact
Meine Stimme in der Öffentlichkeit
Meine Meinung wird gehört. Als gefragte Expertin werde ich regelmässig zu Interviews, Webshows und Podcasts eingeladen. Vom Schweizer Fernsehen bis hin zur ELLE Singapur, von der e-commerce Konferenz der Schweizerischen Post bis hin zum UNESCO Forum: ich bin global und multimedial präsent. Daneben verfasse ich auch immer wieder eigene Artikel.
So schaffe ich Impact.
Impact
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Sie finden hier eine Auswahl an Interviews, Podcasts, Webshows und eigenen Artikeln zu allen meinen Themenbereichen.
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elleXX: Kolumnen mit wachem Geist, scharfer Zunge und Augenzwinkern
elleXX ist eine innovative Finanzplattform für Frauen. Hier schreibe ich jeden Monat eine Kolumne. Mit wachem Geist, scharfer Zunge und einem Augenzwinkern.
Podcasts – meine Gedanken zu Ethik auf Sendung
Menschen aus der ganzen Welt laden mich ein, meine Gedanken zu Ethik, zu Künstlicher Intelligenz, zu Datenschutz, zu Nachhaltigkeit oder zu meinem persönlichen Werdegang zu teilen. Podcasts sind eine grossartige Chance, meine Ansichten und Überzeugungen strukturiert und klar verständlich darzulegen. Jedes einzelne dieser Gespräche war immer auch ein Augenöffner für mich selber.
Big Tech and AI ethicists — a reciprocal duty to engage?
If we have a choice: do we want to have Big Tech at the table when discussing regulation, or do we want them to lobby behind closed doors? I argue for the latter. We have a duty to engage.
Kryptowährungen und ESG? Mission impossible
Kryptowährungen boomen; viele von ihnen basieren auf extrem energieintensiven Mining-Prozessen. Gleichzeitig stehen wir unter dem Druck, den globalen Emissionsverbrauch drastisch zu senken, Stichwort ESG. Diese beiden Trends vertragen sich nicht.
«No one likes to talk about ethics. I show that talking about ethics can be fun»
Here is how I developed from a primary school feminist protesting against handicraft lessons for girls, to a rebellious anticapitalist teenager in high school, to a bored business administration student in the 1990ies, into who I am today.
Online Dating und Ethik: Was unterscheidet Tinder von Zalando?
Muss mir Tinder aus Gründen sozialer Gerechtigkeit & Inklusion eine möglichst diverse Auswahl an Männern zeigen, auch wenn klar ist, dass ich nur auf blonde Männer über 1.85m stehe? Was ist der Unterschied zwischen dem Angebot auf Tinder und Zalando? Soll nicht bei beiden Plattformen der Kundenwunsch im Vordergrund stehen?
«The EU regulation on AI makes ethics affordable»
What does the EU draft regulation on AI mean for companies? Will they see it as a burden or do they embrace it as meaningful guidance? I was invited to a short podcast on my views on these matters.
Zum Unterrichten von KI & Ethik
Das Montreal AI Ethics Institute hat mich, zusammen mit meinen ForHumanity-Kollegen Merve Hickok und Ryan Carrier, zu unseren Gedanken über das Lehren von KI und Ethik interviewt. Ich empfehle, KI-Ethik so anwendungsorientiert wie möglich zu halten und die Menschen zu inspirieren, darüber nachzudenken, was das für ihre eigene Arbeitserfahrung bedeutet.
Privacy violations create irreversible damage. There is no compensation scheme for data leaks.
In the year 2021, after countless shitstorms about privacy violations, after Cambridge Analytica, at the same time as people leave Whatsapp because they disagree with their new privacy, Clubhouse comes to Europe with a business model that disregards any legal and ethical considerations, and they are successful.
Is there business ethics in Clubhouse?
What can AI ethics learn from business ethics? What’s the ethics of Clubhouse, if any? Is the Robinhood app undermining free will? And how can tech companies create an ethical business culture? Listen to my thoughts in this interview.
Rainwater Harvesting in Bangladesh
In 2017 I visited various NGO projects in Bangladesh. Upon return to Switzerland I wrote a piece on a method to harvest rainwater in order to secure the supply of healthy water. The article was originally published in the Bangladesh newspaper Daily Sun on February 7, 2018.
Thought Leader Talk: «Ethik kann Spass machen»
Die Swiss Mobile Association hat mich als Thought Leader interviewt. Ich sage unter anderem: «Ich stelle die Warum-Frage nicht nur in Bezug auf Innovation oder Fortschritt, sondern auch in Bezug auf den Status Quo».
Getting to the root of food waste in bananas
The food waste of bananas created by consumers is only the tip of the iceberg. Even more waste is created at the farm level, where up to 40% of bananas are put to waste. The high percentage of waste at farm level puts an additional strain on the cost/income ratio of farmers.
TedX Zürich: «AI – freedom within, freedom without»
AI frees us from having to solve complex problems ourselves, but does it also deprive us of the ability to think for ourselves? In my TedX speech I reflect on the ambiguous role AI plays for our freedom. Due to the pandemic, my speech was recorded in a huge, empty, pitch-black TV studio in Zurich. I missed the audience, but I am glad that I had the opportunity anyway.
Robinhood: democratized finance on shaky ground
More than 900 years after the heroic figure Robin Hood set out to steal from the rich and give to the poor, two American entrepreneurs borrowed his name to establish a fintech company that claims to “democratize finance for all”. But the new Robinhood’s claim of ‘democracy’ is on shaky ground. Just as the company can make financial markets accessible to everyone, it can also deny access within a split second. This is what happened when they shut down Gamestop trading on January 28, 2021. Thousands of investors were presented with a fait accompli.
«Ethics is not just about right or wrong but often rather about why»
«People often feel uncomfortable talking about ethics. My mission is to enter a company, a classroom, a stage, and take away that unease», I say in my interview with influencer marketing platform Onalytica.
KI, Nachhaltigkeit und Ethik: grosse Fragen auch für kleine Unternehmen
Im Gespräch mit Birgit Eschbach rede ich über Nachhaltigkeit, Verantwortung und Ethik: von Microsofts carbon-negativ Strategie, über die Emissionen von GPT-3, bis hin zur Relevanz dieser Themen für Standortförderungsorganisationen oder ein KMU im Rheinland.
Privacy conundrums in early 2021 — on violators and accomplices
How is it possible that an app that simultaneously breaches privacy principles and that, for the time being, undermines ideals of inclusiveness, is so successful? And why do even people who are usually strong advocates of the very values Clubhouse violates, hop on this latest trend?
«AI is a tool, not a right. It’s not an end in itself»
«We might trust machines more than people when we communicate with them but this is dangerous because behind every machine there are the people that create it». Just one of my statements from my lively talk with Kimberly Misquitta from Indian chatbot company Engati.
No, we don’t want to ‘democratize’ AI
The talk about democratizing AI is a clever marketing move. Democracy is an inherently positive term. By suggesting that AI is in everyone’s interest, it is not far off from framing AI as a basic need. But let’s not be fooled: AI is not a basic need. It is a tool, that is, a means to an end, that must be measured by its contribution to human flourishing.
Four reasons why hyping AI is an ethical problem
Hyping AI creates ethical challenges on top of the existing ones. Here is how:
1. AI hype does not question the very purpose of AI.
2. AI hype is linked to misleading promises.
3. AI hype directs energy at something that is barely tangible.
4. AI hype exaggerates the capabilities of AI when effectively humans are still doing most of the work.
Fake it till you make it: AI and Hype
The Algo 2020 conference invited me on a panel discussion titled «Fake it till you make it – AI and Hype». My 4 key points:
1. AI hype does not question the very purpose of AI.
2. AI hype is linked to misleading promises.
3. AI hype directs energy at something that is barely tangible.
4. AI hype exaggerates the capabilities of AI when effectively humans are still doing most of the work.
«Die Stärke einer Technologie bemisst sich an ihrem Beitrag zum Wohl der Schwachen»
«Technische Innovation verschafft Menschen mit Behinderung idealerweise Erleichterungen. Gleichzeitig hilft sie Menschen mit Behinderungen, den Erwartungen der Gesellschaft gerecht zu werden. Aber sie steigert eben diese Erwartungen auch – denn sie verändert, was in der Gesellschaft «normal» ist» So lautet eine meiner Aussagen im Rahmen meines Impulsreferates beim Cybathlon 2020, auf dem Podium von Pro Infirmis.
Nachhaltigkeit: von Daten zu Taten
Auf ConnectaTV spreche ich mit Aileen Zumstein über den «Messwahn» in der Nachhaltigkeitsdebatte, über den «Rückzug in die Intuition», über low hanging fruit und Oberflächenkosmetik, sowie die Bedeutung von Prinzipien und Unvermeidlichkeit von Abwägungen.
«Contact-Tracing ist nicht Instagram – das Individuum ist völlig uninteressant»
Im Kampf gegen Covid-19 setzen die Schweiz und weitere Staaten auf digitales Contact-Tracing. Die Weitergabe eigener Daten ist angesichts der Pandemie eine Form der praktizierten Solidarität, sage ich in einem Gespräch im Auftrag der Stiftung Sanitas Krankenversicherung.
«There is no Responsible Tech without accountability»
There is a divide between those working on Responsible Tech inside companies and those criticizing from the outside. We need to bridge the two worlds, which requires more open-mindedness and the willingness to overcome potential prejudices. The back and forth between ‘ethics washing’ and ‘ethics bashing’ is taking up too much space.
Ethics in the tech sector: what makes it so distinctive?
Kate O’Neill is a global thought leader, author, keynote speaker, strategic advisor, and «tech humanist». We talked about connecting the dots between AI ethics, privacy, climate change, CSR, ESG, contact tracing, carbon offsetting and much more, including quite some laughter.
Business is there to make life better. But what does that mean?
As part of his series “Interviews with global leaders in the field of Artificial Intelligence” I spoke with Johan Steyn about AI ethics, privacy, contact tracing, buiness ethics, CSR, etc. – live from my kitchen table.
Geht ESG nun viral? Zum Impact von Corona auf nachhaltige Anlagen
Die Corona-Pandemie löste anfangs auf den globalen Aktienmärkten Panik und massive Kurseinbrüche aus. In Krisenzeiten verkürzen sich Investitionshorizonte. Damit stehen sie in direkter Spannung zum Kern der Nachhaltigkeit, der Langfristigkeit. Was bedeutet das für ESG?
Ethical debates sparked by Covid19: my thoughts as part of the UNESCO Forum
UNESCO Forum invited me as a speaker to share my thoughts on the Covid-19 crisis. The pandemic has sparked fundamental ethical debates. Think of the terrifying reports from hospitals in Italy in Spring 2020. Intensive care units were overrun with patients. There were not enough ventilators. And suddenly we asked ourselves: What is the value of a human life?
Die Rolle von Technologie, Privatsphäre und Solidarität in der Pandemie
Wie wichtig ist unsere Privatsphäre? Was bedeutet Freiwilligkeit? Und wie können wir solidarisch sein? Die Einführung von Contact-Tracing-Apps wirft grosse Fragen auf. Florian Wüstholz von der WOZ lud mich zusammen mit dem Innovationsethiker Johan Rochel zu einem kontroversen Gespräch ein.
Opposing facial recognition: why focusing on accuracy misses the point
Facial recognition has come under massive scrutiny. Approaches to using it are quite divided. While China uses the technology routinely and extensively in order to surveil their citizens’ everyday life; San Francisco, notably the ‘home territory’ of those companies driving the development of this type of technology, has banned it last spring.
AI and sustainability: a solution or part of the problem?
Environmental sustainability is one of the most promising domains to deploy ‘AI for Good’. The environment is an excellent use case for collecting and analyzing data that help us to better understand and address key environmental challenges. In contrast to the use of AI in ‘human settings’, you typically don’t run into problems of privacy and discrimination when using it for environmental purposes.
Nachhaltige Anlagen: über Impact, Regulierung und Greenwashing
Es ist gut, dass Regulatoren das Thema Nachhaltige Anlagen aufgreifen. Allerdings ist es weder machbar noch wünschenswert, Nachhaltigkeit im Finanzbereich allein über Regulierung voranzutreiben. Anleger sollen nicht einfach blind auf gesetzliche Vorgaben vertrauen. Nachhaltigkeit liegt immer auch in der Verantwortung des Einzelnen. Yova hat mich interviewt.
Pensionskassen, Klimawandel und der Wert zukünftiger Renten
Die Klimajugend hat einen langfristigen Horizont – das hat sie sinnigerweise mit den Pensionskassen gemeinsam. Wer in Firmen investiert, die den Klimawandel befördern, setzt den Wert der Renten mutwillig herab.
Linking digitalization to ethics: a simple outline of some foundations
It shouldn’t take a scandal of the dimensions achieved by Facebook/ Cambridge Analytica to make it clear that we must not use technology blindly without asking ourselves some ethical questions, but incidents like these certainly help to raise awareness on an ever broader scale. Yet, despite an increasing amount of articles calling for integrating ethics into algorithms, it often remains unclear what is effectively meant by ethics. I outline in clear and simple terms how ethics can provide guidance when deciding whether we should adopt digital technologies.
Why AI really needs social scientists
OpenAI states that in order to assure a rigorous design and implementation of this experiment, they need social scientists from a variety of disciplines. The title immediately caught my attention given that the kind of “AI ethics” I am dealing with hinges on an interdisciplinary approach to AI. So, I sat down and spent a couple of hours to read through the whole paper.
ESG bei Pensionskassen braucht Reflexion, Passion und Mission
Als regelmässige Zuhörerin bei Paneldiskussionen zu ESG wurde mir bewusst, dass institutionellen Investoren oftmals jegliche Reflexion, Passion und Mission beim Thema ESG fehlt. Darüber schrieb IPE D.A.CH einen Artikel.
Algorithmic decision-making and social division
Reading a report on “Discrimination, Artificial Intelligence and Algorithmic Decision-Making”, I wondered to what degree algorithmic decision-making could serve to further exacerbate discrimination in already deeply divided societies. If we want AI in general and algorithmic decision-making in particular to flourish and to contribute to the common good rather than promote or exacerbate division, we need to work towards creating societies where all members have genuine freedom and equal opportunities in their choice of lifestyles and identities regardless of their protected characteristics.
What makes AI ethicists “the top hire companies need to succeed”?
KPMG ranked «AI ethicist» as one of the «top 5 AI hires companies need to succeed in 2019». That’s good news for an ‘old business ethicist’ like me. However, there is no common understanding whether we need AI ethicists in the first place, and whether creating such a profile inevitably leads to «machinewashing». I address these concerns and argue what it takes to really make AI ethicists a top hire.
The costs of lowering social standards
In 2014 Chiquita paid their workers in Honduras private health insurance which cost them a total of 1 million USD per year. Quite a lot of money for a company close to bankruptcy. A few weeks ago they wanted to lower the level of health care services. As a result, workers went on strike for more than 40 days. Bananas worth 30 million USD could not be exported. Is this really worth it?