Author: <\/p>\n
\u201cFarmers feed the entire world \u2014 so how might we support them to be resilient and build sustainable systems that also support global food security?\u201d It\u2019s a question that Diana Akrong found herself asking last year. Diana is a UX researcher based in Accra, Ghana, and the founding member of Google\u2019s Accra UX team.<\/p>\n
Across the world, her manager Dr. Courtney Heldreth, was equally interested in answering this question. Courtney is a social psychologist and a staff UX researcher based in Seattle, and both women work as part of Google\u2019s\u00a0People + Artificial Intelligence Research (PAIR) group<\/a>. \u201cLooking back on history, we can see how the industrial revolution played a significant role in creating global inequality,\u201d she says. \u201cIt set most of Western Europe onto a path of economic dominance that was then followed by both military and political dominance.\u201d Courtney and Diana teamed up on an exploratory effort focused on how AI can help better the lives of small, local farming communities in the Global South. They and their team want to understand what farmers need, their practices, value systems, what their social lives are like \u2014 and make sure that Google products reflect these dynamics.<\/p>\n One result of their work is a\u00a0recently published research paper<\/a>. The paper \u2014 written alongside their colleagues Dr. Jess Holbrook at Google and Dr. Norman Makoto Su of Indiana University and published in the ACM Interactions trade journal \u2014 dives into why we need farmer-centered AI research, and what it could mean not just for farmers, but for everyone they feed. I recently took some time to learn more about their work.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n How would you explain your job to someone who isn’t in tech?<\/b><\/p>\n Courtney:<\/b>\u00a0I would say I\u2019m a researcher trying to understand underserved and historically marginalized users\u2019 lives and needs so we can create products that work better for them.\u00a0<\/p>\n Diana:\u00a0<\/b>I\u2019m a researcher who looks at how people interact with technology. My superpower is my curiosity and it\u2019s my mission to understand and advocate for user needs, explore business opportunities and share knowledge.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n What\u2019s something on your mind right now?\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n Diana:<\/b>\u00a0Because of COVID-19, there\u2019s the threat of a\u00a0major food crisis<\/a>\u00a0in India and elsewhere. We\u2019re wondering how we can work with small farms as well as local consumers, policymakers, agricultural workers, agribusiness owners and NGOs to solve this problem.<\/p>\n Agriculture is very close to my heart, personally. Prior to joining Google, I spent a lot of time learning from smallholder farmers across my country and helping design concepts to address their needs.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\u201cFarmers feed the entire world \u2014 so how might we support them to be resilient and build sustainable systems that also support global food security?\u201d<\/q>