Ethical AI: How to disrupt data injustice worldwide

By Karen Baker

Originally published in Smart Brief

Artificial intelligence is experiencing exponential growth, which generates excitement and fear, especially as it relates to the future of work. Generative AI for creative jobs is the biggest fear amongst content creators, journalists and writers — potentially exposing a new forage to hiring disruption. 

The Brookings Institution’s Alex Engler calls this hiring trend “algorithmic creep,” which is the combination of increased algorithm use within different hiring stages and more firms using algorithms at each stage.

AI will lead to redesigning workplace business models and changing office culture and how we hire. To build ethical AI solutions, the tech sector needs a wider range of perspectives and diversity of thought, particularly to gain awareness of all the potential forces contributing to the (often unwarranted) success of the elite. We need practices and governance to ensure these changes are at the forefront; thereby, avoiding data bias and unethical practices.

Most technology companies need to become more familiar with the practice of design justice to disrupt data injustice. Practices such as design justice work to demonstrate how universalist design principles and practices erase certain groups of people. Incorporating this practice into the development and execution of AI could prevent negative stereotypes and bring ethics into the conversation. 

Ethical AI is not just a tech issue

The benefits of AI are exciting, not only for technology but those in media and marketing. Yet, left unchecked, technology indulges in unethical outcomes, bias and cultural appropriation without regard. University of Virginia Professor of Practice in Data Science and Nonresident Senior Fellow at The Brookings Institution, Renée Cummings, talks about algorithms that are not accountable, transparent, explaining, or auditable, and explains how these algorithms undermine “the extraordinary possibilities of ethical AI” in her lectures. As marketers specializing in human-centered interaction design, we aim to create equitable user experiences. 

Utilizing AI that weaves AI + HI (human intelligence) to move toward resolving ethical and cultural dilemmas in research is something we should consider. This process collates massive amounts of data and organizes it in logical pieces, allowing people to interpret it in specific contexts and enabling better directions and outcomes.

However, accessing and logically organizing massive data via AI that incorporates human intelligence requires more than just typing in words. It involves training in the language and literacy of AI — something for the media to consider when using ChatGPT. 

AI governance will require multidisciplinary teams — tech can’t be the only one at the table. 

In 2021, the Federal Trade Commission wrote a blog post about the benefits of AI while looking at the governance of bias. This post discusses and recaps the three laws, data analytics, algorithms and AI expertise that lead to seven approaches to ensure equity and inclusion. Experts should review these before launching AI into the marketplace, in addition to applying the White House Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights:  “The Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights is a guide for a society that protects all people from these threats — and uses technologies in ways that reinforce our highest values.”

The issue of ethical AI will not go away on its own. Do we need to build a slow movement, per the efforts of Dr. Timnit Gebru, and get a sense of responsibility and balance to create technologies that work for everyone? Or do we continue to fast-track without looking back, making it an experience for some, not all?

Viewing AI as a social problem – not just a technological issue – can build more ethical practices.

Karen Baker is a founder and the president of Boathouse, an independent, full-service integrated marketing and communications agency.

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Designing an Inclusive Metaverse

By Karen Baker

Founder/President Boathouse D.C.

Originally published in Harvard Business Review

The metaverse is full of promise. People are hopeful that this shared, interactive, immersive, and hyper-realistic virtual space will revolutionize the internet. Goldman Sachs has estimated that the metaverse could ultimately be an $8 trillion opportunity.

One particular promise of the metaverse is that it offers an opportunity to remedy some of the mistakes of Web 2.0 — in particular the failure of social media platforms to safeguard and protect marginalized and underrepresented people from hateful behavior online.

As we create the next iteration of the internet, the stakes are too high to exclude diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) from the conversation.

There’s been some progress in this regard. In May, the World Economic Forum, alongside a number of partners, including Meta, Sony, Microsoft, LEGO, and others, announced an initiative to develop and share actionable strategies “to create an ethical and inclusive metaverse.”

A recent example shows what an inclusive metaverse could look like. In April 2022, the deodorant company Degree partnered with Decentraland to host an inclusive virtual marathon. The company partnered with disability, race, and gender experts to advise on the design elements for participants’ avatars, which included wheelchairs, prostheses, running blades, and a variety of body shapes and sizes, as well as descriptive audio for people with visual impairments.

Companies who want to ensure their metaverse initiatives are inclusive can take inspiration from a movement in the design community, known as “design justice.” Before problem solving for a project or marketing anything, design justice practitioners begin by identifying which communities will be impacted and centering those communities’ voices. They believe that lived experiences are valuable to the design process; ensure that outcomes are sustainable, community-led and controlled; and work towards non-exploitative solutions.

To bring these practices into your metaverse initiatives, I recommend starting with the following three steps:

1. Assess the diversity at your table.

Diversity at the table means you’re ensuring that people with diverse experiences, backgrounds and perspectives are regular participants in any and all conversations about your project, from the senior stakeholder level to the employees who are designing and executing the work. When it comes to finding initiatives that are focused on changing the narrative around inclusion for talent in the metaverse, programs like Grant for the Web and Meta Immersive Learning Lab are training and funding creators from marginalized and underrepresented communities.

Beyond identifying the people at the table, to have a truly community-centered conversation, leaders must facilitate an environment of psychological safety and belonging. You want people to come to the table ready to share their big ideas and solutions to problems without shying away from “real talk” about the potential impact on marginalized communities. To have these conversations, you must create a space that welcomes — and rewards — candor and vulnerability.

2. Frame the problem you’re trying to solve.

As the Framework Institute states: “Framing is the choices we make in what we say and how we say it: what we emphasize, how and what we explain; what we left unsaid. These choices matter. They affect how people hear us, what they understand, and how they act.”

We all bring our own assumptions and biases to any project we’re working on. Taking the time to frame the problem you’re trying to solve — including asking who you are designing for — will keep you from going in the wrong direction.

A classic design-thinking exercise, known as “How might we…” can help by opening up space to spark new ideas and imagine new possibilities. This exercise requires you to get a deeper understanding of the targeted user, their needs, and insights and not trying to solve the problem yourself. For example, asking “How might we ensure low-income communities have access to high-speed internet to take part in the metaverse?” — would involve listening closely to the responses and findings from the community you’re trying to reach, which will lead you to uncovering the problem around access to high-speed internet in low-income communities to lead toward a desired outcome.

3. Listen and probe with empathy.

A key principle of design justice is ensuring that those who are marginalized don’t continue to feel like the deck continues to be stacked against them. How do you pursue inclusiveness? This requires a human-centered approach based on empathy.

Putting empathy at the forefront means actively listening. Your focus should be on understanding what a marginalized or voiceless community is thinking and feeling, their role in the situation, space, and environment, and their fears, frustrations, and anxieties. Active listening builds trust and relationships, and it prevents you from missing important information. Lastly, it allows you to hear what potential problems could surface from what you’re designing.

The metaverse will offer new opportunities for the way we work and play, how we interact with brands, and much more. Companies planning to participate in the metaverse have an opportunity and responsibility to shape an inclusive space where everyone feels represented and that they belong. While this work is not easy, the above strategies, rooted in the 10 principles of the design justice network, offer a path of how we can get from here to there.

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How PR and Marketing Can Ensure AI is Useful and Avoid Data Overload

By Peter Prodromou

Founder/President Boathouse Palo Alto

Originally published in PRNEWS

When used effectively, AI can transform how PR and marketing target, engage, activate and measure campaigns.

The evolution of AI platforms comes as executives increasingly ask that PR and marketing help solve business problems. AI can help whether a business seeks a more informed way of penetrating markets, addressing customer satisfaction issues or anything in between.

However, in spite of AI’s improvements, issues remain.

For example, without human intervention in the form of editing and interpretation, AI outputs can overwhelm business leaders.

As such, absent clear linkage with a company’s goals, AI’s voluminous outputs are fun and interesting perhaps, but they are not helpful answering C-suite business problems. What company leaders want are easily processed insights that can help their business.

For example, say a national healthcare provider is seeking a larger footprint. It wants an assessment of media coverage so it can better understand potential new markets.

Each day its CEO receives a large dossier of AI-generated media data. It's overwhelming.

Instead, the company’s PR team should have:

• Ascertained the company’s business objectives

• Aligned them with search and

• Embedded these criteria into natural language and trend analysis AI, adding social conversation as part of the search criteria

The result: easily digestible data sorted into tabs: business objectives, attitudes and geography.

Bearing this example in mind, below is a prescription for leveraging AI’s power and potential in service of business outcomes:

Identify Business Goals

Before setting output parameters, interview the C-suite. Identify business problem(s) it wants to solve through marketing and communication. Identify 1-3 key business issues.

Align Content with Goals

Determine source material that will inform engagement around the above issues. Set not just search and output, but also an action plan for engagement. This lets you link engagement and outcomes directly to business goals as informed by these outputs. In addition, it enables constant evaluation and adjustment, if necessary. Limiting output to business goals will help you manage the flow of useful data.

Narrow the Universe

Tech-first solutions providers enjoy showing off the muscularity of their technology. They’ll say their technology’s output volume will amaze you. Probably will. Yet, as we saw above, disciplined communication and marketing relies on useful insights not volume. Again, thinking through linkage to business goals, you can make specific choices about the universe of outputs, resulting in better outcomes.

Apply Human Intelligence

This is critical. While output is impressive, the ability to interpret it is the real area of separation. An algorithm will surface precision content, but it can’t interpret its application. This requires human intelligence, blended with the power of AI.

As an industry, communication and marketing belong in the C-suite. Unlike business strategy consultants, our work is tied to engagement every…single…day.  AI has the potential to make our already strategic position even more so.

But to reach that potential we must harness AI and use it in smart, programmatic ways. Otherwise, it’s just another tool of confusion for executives seeking clarity.

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Raising the Bar in Black History

To raise the bar is to drive change, to be a leading voice, to think differently in your approaches, to carve a new path forward, to be one of, if not the, best at what you do. Throughout the past and present, there have been those who have raised the bar in social issues, sports, industry and so much more. In reflecting on Black History Month, we asked Boathouse employees who, in their minds, are people of color who have raised the bar in what they do/did. See some of our leading inspirations below.

Dorothy Counts-Scoggins

After the Supreme Court ruled that racial segregation in schools must end, Dorothy and three other students broke the color barrier at Harry Harding High School in Charlotte, North Carolina on September 4, 1957.

When Dorothy was met with racial slurs, mockery and physical harassment, her parents moved her to Pennsylvania to finish school.

Dorothy went on to work as a consultant for a daycare center in a low-income neighborhood, and still tours the country advocating for better schooling.

“That was my calling—didn't know it then, but I did promise then that what happened to me would not happen to another child. So everything I've ever done has been around making sure that children have equality in their lives.”

Sources: https://bit.ly/3JXZpco, https://bit.ly/3JUrfqa, https://bit.ly/3M7habl, https://n.pr/3M9f4Yi

Ernest G. Green

Ernest volunteered to desegregate Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas in September 1957. Surrounded by paratroopers, he and eight others, later known as the Little Rock Nine, entered the school after Governor Orval Faubus ordered National Guardsmen to keep black students out.

Despite harassment from his peers, Ernest went on to become the first black student to graduate from Central High. Martin Luther King Jr. sat with his family at the graduation.

Ernest went on to have a profound career that saw him as the Assistant Secretary of Labor during the Jimmy Carter administration, and Senior Managing Director at Lehman Brothers. He and the rest of the Little Rock Nine received the Presidential Medal of Honor from Bill Clinton in 1999.

“They used to call Arkansas 'the land of opportunity,' and black people said, 'Opportunity for whom?' ... Today, we can say 'opportunity for all,' and Arkansas can be proud of this moment.”

Sources: https://bit.ly/3IuTv29, https://bit.ly/3hHJyTz, https://bit.ly/3stpZ7z

Simone Biles

Simone took women’s gymnastics by force, becoming the first woman to win three consecutive World Gymnastics Championships all-around titles (2013-2015) and becoming the first black gymnast to be World All-Around Champion in 2013. She also holds the title as the most decorated athlete in the history of the sport, and has been credited with creating four new gymnastics moves.

Simone has become a vocal leader in advocating for better mental health for all. She’s also been an outspoken survivor of sexual assault while on the U.S. gymnastics team.

“I’m not the next Usain Bolt or Michael Phelps ... I’m the first Simone Biles.”

Sources: https://bit.ly/3M9EDbT, https://bit.ly/36Ra3nh, https://bit.ly/3HtrvuD

Fannie Lou Hamer

Born in 1917 in Mississippi, Fannie Lou grew up poor, working the B.D. Marlowe plantation alongside her family.

After she tried to register to vote in 1962, B.D. Marlowe made her leave his land. Surviving physical abuse, death threats, racial slurs and more, Fannie Lou became known for her beautiful and powerful singing voice that soothed others and brought people together amid the violence. She later released an album called Songs My Mother Taught Me.

In 1964, she helped found the Freedom Summer African American voter registration drive in Mississippi. She was also a vocal leader in the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, a political group that challenged the legality of Mississippi's all-white, segregated delegation at the Democratic National Convention. It was there, in a televised speech, that Fannie gained national attention. The following year, she had an unsuccessful run for Congress in her home state of Mississippi. Still determined to make a difference, Fannie Lou set up organizations to help provide child care, create business opportunities and help the less fortunate in her community.

“You can pray until you faint, but unless you get up and try to do something, God is not going to put it in your lap.”

Sources: https://bit.ly/3MdWXki, https://bit.ly/3M40YHT, https://to.pbs.org/3teUkG5, https://bit.ly/3vrHaIj

Jackie Robinson

Jackie was a standout all-around athlete, participating in baseball, basketball, football and track. He was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1942, where he was commissioned a second lieutenant. His interest in civil rights began when he refused to sit in the back of a military transport bus. He was court-martialed; however, all charges were dropped and he was given an honorable discharge.

After being a star player in the Negro American League, Jackie became the first black person to play in American Major League Baseball when he made his debut for the Brooklyn Dodgers on April 15, 1947. He would go on to play from 1947 to 1956.

Despite dealing with teammates who protested playing with him, getting intentionally hit with pitches and dealing with racist fans, Jackie led the Dodgers to six league championships and one World Series. After his baseball career, Jackie was a vocal leader for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and was often seen with Martin Luther King Jr.

"A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives."

Sources: https://7ny.tv/3Ma1Ydt, https://bit.ly/35B6Pnl

Fuel for Thought Drives Learning Culture and a Sense of Community

Here at Boathouse, our culture is what brings us together. Our camaraderie empowers us to redefine advertising’s role and lead the way. That’s why we waste no time. We pivot when necessary, and we’re on a constant hunt for new information.

This ambition and hunger for knowledge are in each and every one of us. We learn the latest, most effective marketing strategies to keep up with the ever-evolving marketing world. We all share a performance mindset, ready to do whatever it takes for our clients. So it was no surprise when three of our own introduced an initiative to enhance our learning—one that would foster connection and enrich our company culture of cutting through the bullshit.

Forming Fuel for Thought 

Shaina Lurie, Taylor Cornacchia and Bethany Briguglio founded Boathouse’s first-ever Fuel for Thought. Initially, the objective was to streamline how the agency stayed up to date with industry trends, and the initiative gave us the opportunity to collaborate beyond client work. Simple stuff. Well, not that simple. Fuel for Thought became a powerful stream of valuable information with guest speakers, a book club, and overall open-minded collaboration.  

When COVID-19 hit, we didn’t realize just how much we would lean on the previous water-cooler chats that bonded us, those seemingly insignificant moments in the office that sparked stellar ideas. The pandemic soon made it apparent that staying connected and fostering our culture would have to be a part of Fuel for Thought’s mission. After all, our community is at our core. We began asking crucial questions. What does company culture look like during a pandemic? What does growth look like at an agency? And finally, how can we drive change in the industry?

All of these pointed to the same initial step, one embedded in us from Boathouse’s beginning. Every one of us needs to take responsibility for our learning. For us, that means encouraging each other to keep going and focusing on being proactive in our endless pursuit of knowledge. Bethany, Taylor, and Shaina reimagined Fuel for Thought into something even more valuable. In response, we would propel ourselves forward as a team more dedicated than ever before. 

Full Steam and Lightning Round Initiatives

So how exactly is Fuel for Thought reinvigorating learning at Boathouse?

Fuel for Thought prepares two monthly events for us: Full Steam and Lightning Round. These are quite different: Full Steam is very much full steam ahead with elevated topics and deep discussion. On the other side of the coin is Lighting Round, which is, well, very light-hearted.

The Full Steam session is for the whole agency to get together and dive deep into learning. We stay on top of trends and explore emerging strategies that we could potentially infuse into our marketing plans, while other times, we simply consider the value of integrating new advertising techniques.

Meanwhile, at a Lighting Round, small groups meet up for a chance to connect and chat (virtually, of course). During a session, Fuel for Thought presents prompts for small groups to discuss openly. Often, it’s an assembly of randomly aggregated questions. Note: no one is actually required to talk only about these topics. Authentic and naturally flowing conversation is much more important to us. 

What Full Steam and Lightning Round have in common is that they spark excitement. From simply answering “How are you feeling?” to researching the next hot marketing approach, these moments give us the chance to be ourselves and be inspired.

We do acknowledge, however, that sometimes the best way to learn is from the experts. That is why Fuel for Thought loves featuring them, whether they be from outside our industry or right from our home base. Most recently, Fuel for Thought invited Brian Halligan, the CEO of HubSpot; Deesha Dyer, CEO of Hook & Fasten Consulting and Obama Whitehouse alum; and our very own Gail Schoenbrunn, an award-winning Boathouse copywriter and creative director.

We Are Change Drivers

At Boathouse, we love a challenge. We don’t simplify ideas; our work means too much to us, and the industry is far too complex. That’s why we think of ourselves as ferocious learners who boundlessly seek ways to improve. Our clients keep outperforming because we steer the ship toward the future. We aim to be the change.

Fuel for Thought encompasses what we do: use our relentless ambition as fuel to uncover the unknown and learn. We make it happen. Fuel for Thought continues to encourage reflection on our company culture and discuss what matters to us. We ask questions like, “How do we stay on top of the evolving landscape?” and “What can we do to be more efficient in a virtual world?”

Above all, we keep the client in mind. It’s not about us. It’s about doing what’s right for the client and having the backbone to treat their business as if it were our own. Having the very best tools in hand for our clients means helping them grow, and that truly matters to us.

The more we know, the more insight we have to give. Fuel for Thought provides us new material that we use directly to contribute to client business performance. From book recommendations to guest speakers, we stay ahead of the curve by being agile. That means innovative thinking, fresh ideas, and clever approaches. And we are never going to stop. 

Because at Boathouse, we are fearless leaders. We are change drivers. And our work? It isn’t just pretty. It performs.

Confronting Racism

By Alexandra Koktsidis and Bob Fitzgerald

“Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.”

— — James Baldwin, American author

Boathouse supports #BlackLivesMatter. We’re committed to do what we can, as a company and as individuals, to combat racism and systemic inequality. It’s the right thing to do. 

Talking about race, injustice, bigotry, hidden biases—basically everything we will need to address if we are to succeed in Boathouse’s ambitious endeavor—is excruciatingly difficult and fraught with emotion. It will not be easy. At the risk of oversimplification, we will need to adhere to one of our founding mantras with all our strength: “Humbly cutting through the bullshit.” We will need to plumb new depths of humility; to admit what we don’t know; to listen, learn and change; to accept that even the most well-intentioned of us just might be wrong. And we will need to cut through centuries of societal, cultural and institutional bullshit.

Every organization has its strengths. We use data, intelligence and creativity to solve business problems. We look at ways we can serve organizations and generate a return on investment. At a fundamental level, we learn. Our goal is to use these same skills—learning and doing—to fight injustice and inequality. Because we can do better. And we can always do more. 

The pressing need for change is evident. In what way, or ways, can we make a difference? How can we begin to reverse the systemic inequality that’s pervaded the world? These are the questions we’re asking ourselves. We started with a small group in our agency, and have opened up these questions to everyone. 

This resulted in a range of ideas: from smaller-scale changes internally, such as the way we hire, the vendors we use, and the conversations we have, to the external ways that can make an impact. Now it’s up to us to focus on a few of these ideas, and really give them our all. 

One insight to consider: change is iterative. The corporate world needs to invest in actions that have a reverberating effect. This goes beyond giving money to fill gaps. 

It’s about making intentional decisions on how to use funds to create an impact that, in turn, creates more impact. It’s a multiplier effect.

We can use investments and information to help create this change. To create opportunities where there haven’t been any before. To hear voices that have gone unheard. 

To succeed we will need to push ourselves and each other. We will need to challenge and push understandings. And we will need to open our minds, devoting our time and mental energy. 

This is just the start. And there is no end, no finish line. This work is never-ending and requires an ongoing commitment. And we are resolutely committed.