To give female academics and others focused on AI their well-deserved and overdue spotlight time, TechCrunch is launching a series of interviews highlighting notable women who have contributed to the AI revolution. is published. As the AI boom continues, we publish these articles throughout the year, highlighting important research that often goes unrecognized. Click here for a detailed profile.
Tara Chklovski is the CEO and founder of Technovation, a nonprofit organization that helps teach young girls about technology and entrepreneurship. She has led the company for the past 17 years, finding ways to help young women leverage technology to solve some of the world's most pressing problems. She attended St. Stephen's College in Delhi, received her master's degree from Boston University, and earned her doctorate in aerospace engineering from the University of Southern California.
In short, how did you get started in AI? What attracted you to this field?
I started learning about AI in 2016 when I was invited to attend the AAAI (Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence) conference in San Francisco. There, I had the opportunity to interview a variety of AI researchers who are using AI to tackle interesting problems such as: Space for stock. Technovation is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to bring the most powerful, cutting-edge tools and technology to the most underserved communities. The AI felt powerful and right. So I decided to learn a lot about it!
We conducted a national survey of parents in 2017 asking them about their thoughts and concerns about AI. As a result, we were shocked to find that African American mothers were far more interested in helping their children develop their AI literacy than any other demographic. Then, with support from Google and Nvidia, we launched the first global AI education program, the AI Family Challenge.
Since then, we've continued to learn and iterate and are now the only global project-based AI education program with a research-based curriculum translated into 12 languages.
What work are you most proud of in the AI field?
The fact that we are the only organization to publish peer-reviewed research papers on the impact of project-based AI curriculum, and have been able to bring it to tens of thousands of girls around the world.
How do we overcome the challenges of a male-dominated tech industry and, by extension, a male-dominated AI industry?
it's difficult. We have many allies, but the power and influence usually lies with the CEO, who is usually male, and doesn't fully empathize with the barriers women face every step of the way. You become the CEO of a trillion dollar company based on certain characteristics, but these characteristics may not be the same as what others can relate to.
When it comes to solutions, society is more educated and both men and women are more sophisticated in things like empathy, mental health, and psychological development. My advice to those supporting women in tech is to be bolder in investing in women. We will make further progress. There is enough research and data to know what works. We need more champions and champions.
What advice would you give to women looking to enter the AI field?
Get started today. It's so easy to get started with free world-class lectures and courses online. Find a problem that interests you and start learning and building. The Technovation curriculum is also a great starting point. This requires no prior technical background and you should end up building an AI-based startup.
What are the most pressing issues facing AI as it evolves?
[Society views] An underserved group with no voice, no authority, no talent, a monolithic group just waiting to be exploited. In fact, it turns out that teenage girls are some of the earliest adopters of technology and have some of the coolest ideas. The women's technology team created the ride-sharing and taxi-hailing app in December 2010. Another technology team created the Mindfulness and Focus app in March 2012. Our technology team is currently creating an AI-based app and building new datasets focused on groups. India, Africa, Latin America – groups not included in the Silicon Valley app.
We see these countries not just as markets, consumers and recipients, but as powerful forces who can help ensure we build truly innovative solutions to the complex problems facing humanity. We need to see them as partners.
What issues should AI users be aware of?
These technologies are advancing rapidly. Be curious and peek under the hood as much as you can by learning how these models work. This will help you become a curious and hopefully well-informed user.
What is the best way to build AI responsibly?
By training groups that don't typically belong on design or engineering teams and working with them as co-designers and builders to build better technology. It doesn't take much time and the final product is more robust and innovative to the process.
How can investors more effectively promote responsible AI?
We foster collaboration with global nonprofit organizations that have access to a diverse talent pool so that our engineers can interact with a wide range of users and incorporate their perspectives.