👋 Hello, Humane Tech Pioneers!

Humane tech as a career choice will set you apart, offering a chance to reshape how technology interacts with our lives. Career paths in this space are still evolving, but that's the beauty of it – you get to be a pioneer! A Portfolio Career is your key to unlocking this dynamic growing landscape, crafting a fulfilling and sustainable path in the world of ethical technology. Imagine the freedom of flexible work models, the satisfaction of contributing to ethical projects, and the potential to create your own initiatives powered by cutting-edge technology like Generative AI. Let's navigate this uncharted territory together!


This week we’ll cover:

🩷 Humane Tech Career Tips & Stories: A Master’s in Philosophy today will help you run your AI business better than an MBA I The Portfolio Career: Why a Humane Tech Career Needs a Portfolio Approach I 5 Females Pioneering Humane Tech talk about their journeys

🚀 Humane Tech Free Courses: Ethics in AI Design I Impact, Ethics, and Issues with Generative AI

👩🏾‍💻 Humane Tech Degree Pathways: Applied Ethics and the Professions (Science Technology and Ethics) I Masters in Future Governance 

⭐️ Humane Tech NextGen Spotlight: Sharon Li “Innovator of the Year" by MIT Technology Review

🤖 Latest Ethical AI tools : Rest of the World’s AI Election Tracker I Browsers Brave & Waterfox I Privacy-Conscious search engines I Messaging apps Wire, Signal & Matrix

🌅 New Ways of Working-Tips & Stories: Generative AI is Changing The Future of Work I Remote work is Good for the Climate I TIPS for Working Remotely in 2024

🧠 Peak Performance Hacks backed by Neuroscience: How Your Diet Directly Influences Your Brain Health & Mental Wellness

Humane Tech Career Tips & Stories

 A Master’s in Philosophy today will help you run your AI business better than an MBA

Reid Hoffman (Co-founder of LinkedIn) thinks a Master’s in Philosophy will help you run your business better than an MBA. He believes that philosophy trains you to think rigorously about what is true, what is possible, and how human nature works. All of these are indispensable skills for AI engineers & AI startup founders who want to use AI for good and build solutions that benefit humanity.

AI tech careers need people who ask "Should we build this?" not just "Can we build this?" Philosophy trains you in critical thinking (which is another in-demand skill).

Hoffman’s perspective on technology shaping human evolution and the need for tools to accelerate "cultural/digital evolution" suggests a demand for professionals who can analyze and guide the societal impact of AI, ensuring inclusive and equitable progress.

This podcast episode from (@Every) is a must-watch for anyone curious about some of the bigger questions prompted by the rapid development of AI. YouTube LINK

The Portfolio Career: Why a Humane Tech Career Needs a Portfolio Approach

Humane Tech is a field still taking shape, meaning traditional career paths are few and just starting to grow. This is where a Portfolio Career approach becomes your superpower."

The Portfolio Career: a way of working where an individual builds a diverse range of skills and experiences through multiple income streams. A Portfolio Career is a path with never-ending options that all focus on discovery and personal fulfillment. Building a collection of curated diverse experiences and skills from multiple employers is becoming a more popular way to navigate the ever-changing landscape of work.

Here's how to start your Portfolio Career in Humane Tech:

1. Embrace Interdisciplinarity: Seek projects, courses, or collaborations that let you mix your existing skills with:

   Social Sciences: Understand how people interact with tech (for good and bad)

   Ethics & Philosophy: Grapple with the "should we?" not just the "can we?" of tech.

   Design Thinking: Learn how to create tech & AI solutions that prioritize user well-being and are human-centered.
   

2. Experiment and Adapt: Take on short-term gigs, freelance projects, or volunteer with tech-focused NGOs. This lets you:

   Discover your niche: Do you love tackling the humane tech challenge of misinformation, or work on Trust & Safety, or is designing inclusive AI your passion? Real-world experience reveals this.

3. Showcase Your Values. Your career & learning choices should reflect this:

   Content Creation: Share your analysis of tech trends & ethics on a personal website or social media.

   Contribute to Open-Source Ethical Data Projects: Show you're committed to collaborative, ethical tech development.

   Community Involvement: Did you help a local group understand online privacy? Are you learning emerging tech with an online community!

   Personal Growth: Exploring diverse roles lets you tap into passions you might not have time for in a traditional full-time job. Continuous learning and facing new challenges keep work stimulating and builds self-confidence. Pursuing things that genuinely excite you – that's the key to keeping work fulfilling!

   
   
   Christina Wallace a senior lecturer at Harvard Business School and author of the book The Portfolio Life is intentional about defining portfolios as an approach to life, not just careers. They must take into account three things, she says:

   One: “Your identity is not defined by any one role or opportunity.”

   Two: “Diversification of income streams and industries will help you navigate change and mitigate uncertainty.”

   Three: “When (not if) your needs change, you can and should rebalance your portfolio.”
   

⭐️ Trailblazers in Tech: 5 Females Pioneering Humane Tech

In this Ground Truth Panel, 5 NextGen who are working on AI talked about their professional journeys, shared insights on the important work they’re undertaking, and advice for anyone interested in a career in AI/ML & humane tech.
Check out the full video: https://youtu.be/IOB3LNnV9aA?si=APVys6s-Ks4oAFxZ

This powerful quote from @katecrawford highlights the ever growing presence of AI has in our lives. If you have decided to build tech for a career, prioritizing AI responsibility, can foster trust and ethical deployment, harnessing the technology's potential while mitigating risks for a fair and inclusive society. 🙌🏽

Humane Tech Free Courses

DelftX's Ethics in AI Design course teaches professionals how to proactively embed ethical considerations into the development of AI systems.

How is it Future Fit:

🌟 This course directly tackles the ethical complexities, equipping developers to be responsible innovators by using the Delft Design for Values methodology. This is a Hot topic this decade!

🌟 It is project-based and you will practice how to make AI Ethics actionable and applicable for a wide range of systems and use cases. To learn how to put ethics into practice you will work with AI in healthcare data.

🌟 You also focus on Bias in data and algorithmic fairness. You will discuss both philosophical conceptions of fairness and bias as well as the connection to concrete metrics and tools that can be used to monitor and correct for biases. Investigate which (statistical) biases are problematic and what appropriate steps are to tackle them.

Offered by IBM, this course dives into the transformative power of generative AI, but with a strong emphasis on the potential risks and societal impacts like ethical concerns: Data privacy, potential for creating harmful content (deepfakes, etc.), copyright issues, and how biases can be amplified. It also gives you guidelines for building ethical generative AI systems, ensuring transparency, accountability, and mitigating harm.

How is this program future fit

🌟 Generative AI is rapidly evolving, and this course equips learners to navigate this landscape ethically.

🌟 You work with case studies and hands-on labs ground the ethical dilemmas in real examples.

🌟 Critical Thinking: Central to the entire course. Students don't just learn what generative AI can do, but analyze when it should be used. They also practiced Systems Thinking: Understanding the interconnectedness of AI with jobs, law, and society is developed through the socioeconomic module.

Humane Tech Degree Pathways

🌟 Focus on Emerging Technologies:

The program exposes students to new challenges posed by rapidly evolving sociotechnical systems in such areas as:

energy, environment and development

genetic engineering and biotechnology

information and communication technology

nanotechnology

Artificial Intelligence and security

⭐️ Real-World Problem-Solving:

Real world ethical case studies, applied projects, and the potential for internships/thesis focused on real-world ethical issues in medicine, business, technology, politics, law, the environment.

⭐️ Future-Fit Skills:

Critical Thinking: The core of ethics is grappling with complexity, ambiguity, and value trade-offs – highly transferable skills for navigating the uncertain future.

Systems Thinking: Analyzing how tech interacts with society, law, etc., develops this crucial ability to see the big picture.

Cross-Sector Collaboration: The program attracts students from both tech and non-tech fields, fostering dialogue essential for humane innovation.

The Edinburgh Futures Institute's MSc in Future Governance focuses on the intersection of data, technology, and policy-making. It's for professionals seeking to drive ethical and effective governance in a world increasingly shaped by big data.

Why is it Future Fit?

🌟 Focus on Emerging Technologies:

Data-driven decision-making is core, including ethical use of big data, AI, and other tech shaping how we are governed.

⭐️ Real-World Problem-Solving:

The focus on applied ethics and the substantial final project demonstrate a commitment to making students agents of change, not just passive learners.

⭐️ Future-Fit Skills:

Critical Thinking: Central to ethical analysis of complex tech/power dynamics.

Data Literacy: Essential for navigating a data-driven world.

Collaboration: Interdisciplinary nature of the program fosters the ability to work across sectors, crucial for solving global problems.

Stakeholder Engagement: Understanding the impact of governance decisions on diverse people builds empathy and thoughtful policy design.

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Tech for Good Internships

Humane Tech Next Gen Spotlight

Meet Sharon Li
“Innovator of the Year" by MIT Technology Review

At 30, Sharon Li is at the forefront of developing safety mechanisms within AI systems, specifically through a feature known as out-of-distribution (OOD) detection. This innovative approach equips AI models to recognize and react appropriately when confronted with unfamiliar data or situations—essentially knowing when to act and when to abstain.

Li's work in OOD detection not only showcases her pioneering spirit but also her proactive stance on AI safety. Her research has led to significant advancements, including the development of one of the first algorithms for OOD detection in deep neural networks—a milestone that prompted Google to establish a dedicated team to integrate these safety measures into its AI products.

The implications of Li’s research are profound, particularly for technologies involving high stakes, such as autonomous vehicles and medical diagnostic systems. By enabling these AI models to identify when they encounter scenarios outside their training, Li’s work enhances their reliability and safety, mitigating potential disasters.

Why Sharon is Future Fit

-Impact Lens:

The implications of Li’s research are profound, particularly for technologies involving high stakes, such as autonomous vehicles and medical diagnostic systems. By enabling these AI models to identify when they encounter scenarios outside their training, Li’s work enhances their reliability and safety, mitigating potential disasters. Her work significantly reduces the risks associated with AI deployments. The ultimate goal is to ensure trustworthy, safe machine learning.

-Portfolio Career Pathways Lens:

Variety of Roles: Her journey is a blend of academic rigor and industry experience, which has shaped her research philosophy. Her academic career began with a Ph.D. from Cornell University, where she was mentored by John E. Hopcroft, a Turing laureate. She then honed her skills at Stanford University as a postdoctoral researcher before tackling real-world AI challenges at Facebook AI and Google.

-Remote Work & New Ways of Working Lens:

Li’s work calls on the AI community to rethink its approach to training. “A lot of the classic approaches that have been in place over the last 50 years are actually safety unaware,” she says. Her approach embraces uncertainty and experimentation by using machine learning to detect unknown data out in the world and design AI models to adjust to it on the fly.

In-Demand Skills Lens:

She specializes in machine learning safety, a critical area as AI becomes pervasive in society.

Latest Ethical AI Tools List

⭐️ Ethical AI TOOL SPOTLIGHT


Rest of the World’s AI Election Tracker- Spotting AI-generated news

As more than 2 billion people in 50 countries head to the polls this year, artificial intelligence-generated content is now widely being used to spread misinformation, as well as to confuse and entertain voters. Throughout 2024, Rest of World is tracking the most noteworthy incidents of AI-generated election content globally.

✅ Browsers:

Brave: A browser that doesn't treat you like a product. No ads, save data earn as you search.

Waterfox: Fast and Private Web Browser (no more spying)


✅ Search Engines:

DuckDuckGo- The easiest to use Privacy- Conscious search engine

StartPage- The world’s most private search engine. No ads, no history, no digital footprint

ECOSIA- The greenest way to search. You find what you need, They plant trees where needed.



✅ Messaging & Communication

Wire: Simply a very Secure Messenger

Signal: Open-source text, voice & video messaging app supported entirely by grants & donations.

Matrix: Open network for secure, decentralized communication
 

New Ways of Working Tips & Stories

Generative AI is Changing The Future of Work

✅ 70% of Gen Z report using generative AI technology for work, and 52% of them trust the technology to help them make informed decisions. (LINK)

✅ Interest in generative AI tools is exploding around the world — but female employees are trailing behind their male colleagues in using the technology. (LINK)

✅ LinkedIn has seen a 75% average increase each month in members worldwide adding terms like "GAI," "ChatGPT," "Prompt Engineering" and "Prompt Crafting" to their profiles in 2023, according to the company's latest AI report. 

Gen Z said they feel optimistic about how AI will factor into their careers, with 58% of respondents believing it will have a positive impact on their professional lives. This is reflected in survey responses about job searches: 55% of participants are using AI to build resumes, while 48% are leveraging it to generate cover letters and prep for interviews, and 42% seek it out for help finding jobs that match their skills and interests. (LINK)

Remote work is Good for the Climate

🌳 Switching from working on-site to working remotely five days a week led to a 54% reduction in a worker's employment-related carbon footprint!

Learn More of the Yale remote work study: LINK

TIPS for Working Remotely in 2024 

Key Takeaways

• Establish a routine that works for you and stick to it every day to create a sense of normalcy. 

• Utilize tech and other tools that help you be more productive.

• Communicate well and often, and think about how you may be coming across in writing. 

• Look for opportunities to connect. 53% of remote workers report struggling with connecting to their teammates.

Peak Performance Hacks

Backed by Neuroscience

How Your Diet Directly Influences Your Brain Health & Mental Wellness 

@doctorsethimd

3 Best Foods to Support a Healthy Gut-Brain Connection 💥| Dr Sethi and Dr Sehrawat. Explore the essential connection between your gut and... See more

In today’s fast-paced and ever-evolving career landscapes, maintaining an edge requires more than just keeping up-to-date with industry trends and technological advancements; it also involves optimizing your mental well-being and cognitive functions.

Dr. Chris Palmer, a renowned psychiatrist from Harvard Medical School, provides groundbreaking insights into how significantly your diet impacts your brain and mental health & wellness. 

Learn why foods high in refined sugars and unhealthy fats can sabotage your concentration, zap your energy, and destabilize your mood.

Discover the positive impact of foods high in omega-3 fatty acid, leafy green vegetables, healthy fats, and proteins on your cognitive health. Foods with active cultures, like yogurt, kefir, tempeh and pickled vegetables. They can help reduce anxiety and stress. These aren't just good for you; they enhance your brain function, energize your days, and stabilize your emotional world, promoting both professional productivity and mental health.


A Harvard nutritionist and a neuroscientist agree this is the No. 1 food for a healthy brain LINK
 

Thank you for reading!

Do you know of any learning pathways, communities, or resources focused on humane tech? Reach out by replying to this newsletter, or via direct message on Linkedin.