As part of TechCrunch's ongoing “Women in AI” series, which aims to give female AI-focused academics and others their well-deserved and overdue spotlight time, TechCrunch interviewed Marissa Hummon, chief technology officer at energy company Utilidata. There, she works to make the power grid more sustainable.
“The work I'm doing at Utilidata is disrupting the status quo in the utility industry,” Hammon told TechCrunch, adding that AI is poised to help the utility sector operate more effectively. added. “This will give power companies the tools they need to operate a clean, modern and reliable power grid, allowing them to better serve the people and businesses connected to the grid. It will be.”
Hammon began his career at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, where he focused on how to transition the energy industry from carbon-intensive solutions to cleaner resources. She recalled that new modeling techniques had to be adopted because certain physical equations “could not be solved using traditional analysis techniques.”
“Instead, we had to use numerical methods and machine learning,” she said. This was in 2010.
advice for women
Hammon worked at energy company Tendril before taking a CTO role at Utilidata, a position he has held since 2018. She received her PhD in applied physics from Harvard University, and upon making the transition from graduate school to engineering, she said, She noticed a significant decline in the number of women working in the field. “I have often felt pressured to hold myself to higher standards than my male colleagues at work,” she says.
Hammon said she is now trying to lead by example and create opportunities for women to lead and be recognized. At the same time, she said, men need to take responsibility for creating space for more women to enter and stay in the field.
“The changes we need to make are not just in practice; they have to be systemic and far-reaching,” she continued. “It starts with recruiting and hiring, followed by mentoring and coaching, and culminates with fair and impartial evaluations and promotions, all while creating a safe and inclusive workplace.”
Her advice to women entering the AI field is to always remember that being a woman can be an advantage. “It gives you a different perspective than your male colleagues, and advances in technology always come from a unique perspective.”
She says you should look for opportunities with companies that have leaders who demonstrate a commitment to diversity and a commitment to supporting women and minorities. “Judge potential employers by how you perform during the interview process, not by statements or reports posted on your website.”
Building ethical AI
Hammon said users should know that AI is not a solution to all problems, but rather a professional assistant to enhance operations, increase efficiency and provide support.
“It’s important to recognize its limitations and ensure appropriate checkpoints,” she said.
She said it is always important to understand how generative AI was trained and built to understand the potential biases it may have. “This knowledge becomes a powerful tool when using language models for data analysis and assessing the feasibility of solutions,” she continued. “AI’s capabilities are determined by the data and information used to train it.”
She also offered some tips on how to build secure AI and explained that Utilidata made an early decision to keep all data local. “Building models using distributed AI computing reduces the amount and frequency of information sent to the cloud, reducing the potential for security and privacy breaches.”
For investors, like all the experts we spoke to, she says they need to evaluate how companies want to use AI, especially since responsible AI differs by industry. said. “Responsible AI investments should be commensurate with the risk and complexity of a particular company, rather than a blanket standard.”