‘Diversity is important because it helps prevent unintentional biases with AI reinforces or discriminates against groups’, says Gardner. She explains this with a case about one AI recruiting tool from Amazon. Amazon always needs a lot of software developers. The tool scoured the internet looking for the best candidates, but there were no women found! Cause? The AI ​​tool turned out to have been developed using historical data in which men were overrepresented. The algorithm also placed more value on skills and verbs that were often mentioned by men. 'To counter this, it is important that more women work in AI, so that their perspective is taken into account. Because whatever I do, I always do it as a woman, also in my work in the tech world.'

Harassment and microaggressions

Gardner has been committed to increasing the participation and visibility of women in the tech world for several years. She is doing a master's degree in Machine Learning at the UvA and teaches this to bachelor's students at the VU. 'The share of women among bachelor's students is growing, but among master's students we are by far in the minority. As a woman you are vulnerable in a male-dominated environment. It didn’t bother me too much, until I received incredibly sexist comments in an online group chat during the corona period.' She discovered that many women in the tech world suffer from harassment or micro-aggression at work: 'That is one of the reasons why women drop out of their tech studies much more often than men.'

Lower threshold

To make women more resilient and connect with each other, Gardner started Hack4Her in 2022, a three-day hackathon (tech event) especially for women. 'You never actually see women at a regular hackathon. When I asked tech students – even master's students – why this was, I was often told that they were afraid that they were not good enough. A hackathon for women lowers the threshold and brings women into contact with each other.' Men are also welcome’, she adds. ‘But if we leave out women, only men will come.’

During the event there will also be lectures and workshops about what it is like to be a woman in the tech world and about the systemic data bias. ‘It is important that men also know more about this.’

Children and AI

Gardner is very grateful for her scholarship, which allows her to work less in addition to her demanding studies and to spend more time in an inclusive tech world. Her new goal: introducing children to AI. 'I was recently at a school in Amsterdam Nieuw-West and I noticed that none of the children knew what ChatGPT was. I then invited them to the university, where my professor explained to them how the programme works and what you can do with it. If we want to give children the opportunity to choose AI, we have to make them enthusiastic at an early stage.' She has big plans for primary schools.

Qualcomm Diversity in AI Fellowships

Qualcomm Technologies awarded two Qualcomm Diversity in AI Fellowships in 2023 to two promising AI master's students at the UvA. In addition to a study grant of €10,000, they receive guidance from company engineers. The aim is to support underrepresented groups in the tech world. The fellowships are administered by the AUF.