Melissa Ryan speaks with Mutale Nkonde in a vital conversation about technology, representation and policy. The conversation covers a range of topics within Mutale’s research: Artificial Intelligence, politically motivated audio visual forgeries and deepfakes as well as the unevenly distributed effects of automation. In a cutting indictment of the tech industry’s ability to both repeat and amplify societal inequalities Mutale observes that Facebook has 146 staff working on Artificial Intelligence research, and not a single one of them is black. What this implies for a future shaped by technology, in the image of its creator, is a terrifying prospect.

Mutale is a policy analyst and fellow at Data and Society, and an advisor to Congresswoman Yvette Clarke.

Listen to Ctrl Alt-Right Delete episodes like this by becoming a patron at: https://www.patreon.com/ctrlaltrightdelete

Music: Skalle Pierre