Baron, a senior engineering manager, originally hails from the DRC (Congo) and South Africa, and now lives in Ontario, Canada. We dive into several juicy themes: AI, systemic racism in the tech field, Black enterprise, diversity, mentorship and singing. Come along for the ride and enjoy!
He explains how Black people have again been bypassed, as in so many times since the abolition of slavery, in the current AI revolution in which tech companies fill their “diversity” prerequisites through hiring Asians (mainly Indians and Chinese) and rarely Blacks. Even getting past the “gatekeeper” is daunting for a hopeful, young black professional.
The double-edged sword of technical revolutions:
Whereas these turning points in technology and society carry rosy promise of great strides forward in equality, freedom and well-being, they can also exacerbate underlying discrimination and bias already existing. For example, AI platforms like ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude and others may be injected with the worldview, ideologies and limitations of their owners and programmers. A cringe-worthy example is how Black women are represented in contrast to the other races.
Baron advocates, within his local Baha’i community, for young people becoming agents of social change and healthy community-building.
Baron's email: technologyasymptote@gmail.com Baron’s LinkedIn: here
Hugh's website: https://hughsmiley.com
Share this post