”Could do better.” Series 4, Episode 5. Sophy Norris in conversation with Claire Roberts, Co-Founder of Full Fathom Five and inclusive AI campaigner

In this week's episode, our host Sophy Norris speaks to a woman on the frontline of AI; someone who has deliberately crafted her own career whilst raising a family and battling a few of her own "demons". Claire Roberts is an inclusive AI campaigner and Co-Founder of Full Fathom Five, an AI consulting and training firm dedicated to helping organisations design ethical, people-centred AI strategies and develop confident, inclusive AI leaders.

A founding member of the UKAI Women in AI, Claire is a passionate advocate for women & diversity in technology and AI, most recently speaking at the UKAI parliamentary roundtable on Tackling Misogyny in AI. With over 25 years’ experience leading transformation across FTSE 100 companies, Claire brings a unique perspective on how to embed AI responsibly within complex organisations. Her work focuses on shaping cultures that empower women and underrepresented groups to lead technological change, ensuring that the future of AI is both ethical and equitable.

Alongside a deep dive into ethical AI, gender bias and personal responsibility, we also discuss Claire's own career trajectory, which happened despite not having a degree (her words, not ours), an educational shoulder chip which drove her to "hack" her way upwards, being a working mum and the importance of cognitively balanced teams in fostering innovation.

Specifics include:

• How a lack of something and a chip on a shoulder can become a transformational driving force: the ultimate motivation
• Why being dangerous means never being satisfied
• The power of insatiable curiosity and constant questioning
• The incredible power of realising that you don't need to play by anyone else's rules, and that the game is yours to win
• Why we need to realise that not every day is the day that we will change the world
• How a "disaster zone" career path can reveal new routes, even some back doors, to a successful career
• Leaning into opportunities, even when they seem terrifying
• If you want to innovate, you have to be allowed to break things
• Diverse teams, strong leadership and channelling dangerous thoughts can generate brilliance
• When we are the only, or one of few, women in the room, we need to think about how we introduce more diversity of thought
• We need to talk about AI in a way that works for women
• Using AI responsibly is our next big learning curve; we need to learn to be responsible, hold AI accountable and use it ethically
• Why women must become more interested in AI: for every one woman taking an AI course, there are two to three men, and people with strong AI skills (currently men) are more likely to pull ahead
• Currently, the jobs that AI might replace over-index as female
• AI is ingesting toxic data (24% of data in ChatGPT3 is from Reddit), which naturally skews male
• Our future will require analytical, empathetic thinkers, which is very female-focused, but only if we are prepared
• We need to ask harder questions about AI in the workplace, and question our prompts and outputs (see links for a shared prompt database)
• The AI chain of accountability is highly fragmented and complex; every part needs to be regulated

• Ethical and Responsible AI Use - Prompt Library
• Sarah Porter - LinkedIn
• Cindy Gallop - MakeLoveNotPorn | LinkedIn
• Laura Bates
• Professor Sue Black OBE - LinkedIn
• The Alligator Pi Agency | LinkedIn
• LinkedIn - Sophy Norris
• Full Fathom Five Website
• Full Fathom Five AI | LinkedIn
• LinkedIn - Claire Roberts