As part of TechCrunch’s ongoing Ladies in AI collection, which seeks to provide AI-focused ladies teachers and others their well-deserved — and overdue — time within the highlight, TechCrunch interviewed Marissa Hummon, the chief know-how officer on the power firm Utilidata, the place she is working to make the electrical grid extra sustainable.
“The work that I’m doing at Utilidata is pushing in opposition to the established order of the utility trade,” Hummon advised TechCrunch, including that AI is poised to assist the utility sector function extra successfully. “It’ll give utilities the instruments they should function a clear, trendy, and dependable grid that can higher serve the folks and companies linked to it.”
Hummon began her profession on the Nationwide Renewable Vitality Lab, the place she centered on tips on how to transfer the power trade away from carbon-intensive options to extra clear sources. She recalled having to take a brand new modeling strategy as a result of sure physics equations had been “unsolvable utilizing conventional analytic strategies.”
“As a substitute we would have liked to make use of numerical strategies and machine studying,” she stated. This was again in 2010.
Recommendation to ladies
Hummon moved her method up, working on the power firm Tendril earlier than touchdown the CTO position at Utilidata, a place she’s held since 2018. She obtained a PhD in utilized physics from Harvard and stated that as she made the transition from grad college into the engineering discipline, she observed a major drop within the variety of ladies working within the discipline. “I’ve typically felt the strain of being held to the next commonplace within the office in comparison with my male friends,” she stated.
Hummon stated now as a frontrunner she tries to guide by instance and create alternatives for ladies to guide and be acknowledged. On the identical time, males must be accountable for creating house for extra ladies to enter and keep within the discipline, she stated.
“The change we want is not only in apply; it should be systemic and widespread,” she continued. “It begins with recruiting and hiring, continues with mentoring and training, and culminates with truthful and equitable recognition and promotion — all whereas making a secure and inclusive office.”
Her recommendation to ladies getting into the AI discipline is to all the time keep in mind that being a lady could be a bonus. “It’s given you a perspective that’s completely different out of your male friends and breakthroughs in know-how all the time come from distinctive views.”
She says to hunt alternatives with corporations which have proven their dedication to variety and which have leaders who’ve showcased their efforts to assist ladies and minorities. “Decide a possible employer by the way in which they present up within the interview course of, not by the statements or the experiences they placed on their web site.”
Constructing moral AI
Hummon stated that customers ought to know that AI shouldn’t be one thing that may remedy all issues however quite is an knowledgeable assistant to reinforce operations, enhance effectiveness, and assist assist.
“Recognizing its limitations and guaranteeing there are correct checkpoints is vital,” she stated.
She stated it’s all the time essential to know how generative AI was educated and constructed with a view to perceive any potential biases it may have. “This information is a strong instrument when working with language fashions for knowledge evaluation and evaluating the feasibility of options,” she continued. “AI is just nearly as good as the info and knowledge it was educated on.”
She additionally gave some tips about tips on how to construct secure AI, explaining that Utilidata made an early choice to maintain all of its knowledge native. “Approaching mannequin constructing utilizing distributed AI computing reduces the quantity and frequency of data being transmitted to the cloud and due to this fact reduces the probabilities of a safety or privateness breach.”
As for buyers, she stated — like the entire consultants we spoke to — they should consider how an organization needs to make use of AI, particularly since accountable AI seems to be completely different in each trade. “The funding in accountable AI must be commensurate with the danger and complexity of any given firm, not an across-the-board commonplace.”
