{"id":5498,"date":"2022-03-17T17:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-03-17T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aiproblog.com\/index.php\/2022\/03\/17\/meet-3-women-who-test-google-products-for-fairness\/"},"modified":"2022-03-17T17:00:00","modified_gmt":"2022-03-17T17:00:00","slug":"meet-3-women-who-test-google-products-for-fairness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aiproblog.com\/index.php\/2022\/03\/17\/meet-3-women-who-test-google-products-for-fairness\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet 3 women who test Google products for fairness"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Author: <\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"block-paragraph\">\n<div class=\"rich-text\">\n<p>One of the most interesting parts of working at Google is learning what <i>other people<\/i> do here \u2014 it\u2019s not uncommon to come across a job title you\u2019ve never heard of. For example: ProFair Program Manager, or ProFair Analyst.<\/p>\n<p>These roles are part of our Responsible Innovation team, which focuses on making sure our tech supports Google\u2019s <a href=\"http:\/\/ai.google\/principles\">AI Principles<\/a>. One way the team does this is by conducting proactive algorithmic product fairness \u2014 or ProFair \u2014 testing. This means bringing social and cultural perspectives to the testing process, to assess how an AI or ML application, dataset or technique might avoid reinforcing unfair bias. Three women who work on ProFair testing are Anne Peckham, N\u2019Mah Y. and Cherish M. and today we\u2019re asking them: What\u2019s your job?<\/p>\n<h3>The job: ProFair Responsible Innovation<\/h3>\n<p>Anne is a program manager, N\u2019Mah is an analyst and Cherish is also an analyst.<\/p>\n<h3>So\u2026what do you do?<\/h3>\n<p>Anne Peckham, a program manager working on ProFair for Responsible Innovation, says she primarily helps others get things done. \u201cI organize projects, figure out strategies, identify what needs to get done, provide documentation, keep track of learnings\u2026and do it again for each project.\u201d N\u2019Mah is a ProFair analyst. &#8220;I lead Profair training across Google, coordinate an ethics fellowship program for Googlers and design and conduct fairness tests for products before launch.\u201d Cherish, also an analyst, does this as well. \u201cI help product teams understand how to improve products ahead of launch. I drive our company-wide program in teaching Googlers how to test products, too.\u201d Cherish says a big part of her role is making sure when product teams are building something they think of <i>everyone<\/i> who will use it \u2014 referencing the Google AI Principle of \u201cavoid[ing] creating or reinforcing unfair bias.\u201d \u201cFar ahead of launch time, I look for ways a proposed AI application, ML model or dataset might not function optimally for a user due to unfair bias, so we can help fix it proactively. \u201d<\/p>\n<p>All three enjoy the variety that comes with this work. \u201cI love how collaborative my role is,\u201d Anne says. \u201cI get to work on many types of projects and with lots of different teams \u2014 including the Responsible AI research group.\u201d N\u2019Mah also enjoys seeing the products she\u2019s supported make a difference in the world once they\u2019ve actually launched.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis role forces me to think outside the box, which I enjoy, and I\u2019m able to advocate for users who may not be in the room,\u201d Cherish says. \u201cThis job is very cerebral in nature. And I love collaborating with others to build these products for good.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"block-image_carousel\">\n<div class=\"h-c-page article-module\" data-component=\"uni-image-carousel\">\n<div class=\"article-module glue-pagination h-c-carousel h-c-carousel--simple h-c-carousel--dark ng-cloak\" data-glue-pagination-config=\"{cyclical: true}\">\n<div class=\"h-c-carousel__wrap\">\n<ul class=\"glue-carousel ng-cloak\" data-glue-carousel-options=\"{pointerTypes: ['touch', 'mouse'], jump: true}\">\n<li class=\"h-c-carousel__item article-carousel__slide\">\n<figure class=\"h-c-grid\">\n<div aria-label='Anne is wearing winter clothes and standing on a snowy road next to a sign that says \"Glacier National Park.\"' class=\"article-carousel__slide-img h-c-grid__col h-c-grid__col--10 h-c-grid__col--offset-1 \" style=\"background-image: url(https:\/\/storage.googleapis.com\/gweb-uniblog-publish-prod\/images\/IMG_1040_Original.max-2000x2000.jpg);\"><span class=\"h-u-visually-hidden\">Anne is wearing winter clothes and standing on a snowy road next to a sign that says &#8220;Glacier National Park.&#8221;<\/span><\/div><figcaption class=\"article-carousel__caption h-c-grid__col h-c-grid__col--10 h-c-grid__col-l--8 h-c-grid__col--offset-1 h-c-grid__col-l--offset-2\">\n<div class=\"rich-text\">\n<p>Anne<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"h-c-carousel__item article-carousel__slide\">\n<figure class=\"h-c-grid\">\n<div aria-label=\"A black and white photography of N'Mah. She is looking into the camera and smiling. She is wearing a striped blouse.\" class=\"article-carousel__slide-img h-c-grid__col h-c-grid__col--10 h-c-grid__col--offset-1 \" style=\"background-image: url(https:\/\/storage.googleapis.com\/gweb-uniblog-publish-prod\/images\/IMG-20220305-WA0055_6_1.max-900x900.jpg);\"><span class=\"h-u-visually-hidden\">A black and white photography of N&#8217;Mah. She is looking into the camera and smiling. She is wearing a striped blouse.<\/span><\/div><figcaption class=\"article-carousel__caption h-c-grid__col h-c-grid__col--10 h-c-grid__col-l--8 h-c-grid__col--offset-1 h-c-grid__col-l--offset-2\">\n<div class=\"rich-text\">\n<p>N&#8217;Mah<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"h-c-carousel__item article-carousel__slide\">\n<figure class=\"h-c-grid\">\n<div aria-label=\"A photograph of Cherish looking into the camera and smiling. She is swearing a khaki colored sweater.\" class=\"article-carousel__slide-img h-c-grid__col h-c-grid__col--10 h-c-grid__col--offset-1 \" style=\"background-image: url(https:\/\/storage.googleapis.com\/gweb-uniblog-publish-prod\/images\/IMG_3070.max-2000x2000.jpg);\"><span class=\"h-u-visually-hidden\">A photograph of Cherish looking into the camera and smiling. She is swearing a khaki colored sweater.<\/span><\/div><figcaption class=\"article-carousel__caption h-c-grid__col h-c-grid__col--10 h-c-grid__col-l--8 h-c-grid__col--offset-1 h-c-grid__col-l--offset-2\">\n<div class=\"rich-text\">\n<p>Cherish<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div class=\"h-c-carousel__paginate glue-pagination-previous uni-click-tracker\" data-analytics='{\n            \"event\": \"page interaction\",\n            \"category\": \"interaction\",\n            \"action\": \"image carousel\",\n            \"label\": \"arrow - left click\"\n           }' data-glue-pagination-label=\"Previous\" data-glue-pagination-update-model=\"false\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"h-c-carousel__paginate-wrap\"><svg class=\"h-c-icon h-c-icon--keyboard-arrow-left\" role=\"img\"><use xlink:href=\"#mi-keyboard-arrow-right\"><\/use><\/svg><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"h-c-carousel__paginate glue-pagination-next uni-click-tracker\" data-analytics='{\n            \"event\": \"page interaction\",\n            \"category\": \"interaction\",\n            \"action\": \"image carousel\",\n            \"label\": \"arrow - right click\"\n           }' data-glue-pagination-label=\"Next\" data-glue-pagination-update-model=\"false\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"h-c-carousel__paginate-wrap\"><svg class=\"h-c-icon h-c-icon--keyboard-arrow-right\" role=\"img\"><use xlink:href=\"#mi-keyboard-arrow-right\"><\/use><\/svg><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"h-c-carousel__navigation\">\n<div class=\"glue-pagination-page-list uni-click-tracker\" data-analytics='{\n            \"event\": \"page interaction\",\n            \"category\": \"interaction\",\n            \"action\": \"image carousel\",\n            \"label\": \"arrow - dot click\"\n           }'><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"block-paragraph\">\n<div class=\"rich-text\">\n<h3>How did you choose this job?<\/h3>\n<p>All three Googlers didn&#8217;t know ProFair was an option when they were first considering their careers. \u201cFor a while, I wanted to be a librarian, but coming out of college, I\u2019d been interested in doing political science research or program operations,\u201d Anne says. \u201cI had an entry level job as a program assistant where I was making lists and helping others move goals forward, and that skill transferred to different sectors.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><b>\u201c<\/b>I wanted to be a lawyer, but ended up studying Middle East Studies and Spanish,\u201d says N\u2019Mah. \u201cI focused on cross-cultural experiences, and that\u2019s ultimately what drew me to this work.\u201d That ended up aiding her, she says \u2014 it helps her understand how products impact people from different cultural backgrounds. Cherish also wanted to be a lawyer, and was interested in technology and ethics. \u201cI was always interested in serving others,\u201d she says. \u201cBut I had no idea this sort of career even existed! The teams and roles we work in were developed within the past few years.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<h3>What would you tell someone who wants your job?<\/h3>\n<p>Today, there are more straightforward paths toward this work. <b>\u201c<\/b>Thankfully people who are currently in school have networks to leverage to learn more about this work,\u201d Cherish says. Still, she says, \u201cthere is no linear path.\u201d Someone who wants to do this kind of work should be interested in technological innovation but also focused on doing so with social benefit top of mind.<\/p>\n<p>Anne agrees with Cherish: \u201cThere is no single path to this kind of work, but I\u2019ve noticed people who choose this career are curious and passionate about wherever it is they are working on. I love program management, but others are passionate about building testing infrastructure, or achieving the most social benefit. You see them bring that enthusiasm to their teams.\u201d Anne mentions that she didn\u2019t think there was \u201croom\u201d for her in this field, which is something to consider for those interested in similar careers: The point of Product Fairness work is that all perspectives and backgrounds are included, not just people with MBAs and computer science degrees. \u201cUltimately, technology shouldnt be built for homogenous audiences,\u201d Cherish says \u2014 and who works in this field should be just as diverse, too.<\/p>\n<p>N\u2019Mah says you shouldn\u2019t feel pigeon-holed by your academic or career background; different experiences, personal and professional, are needed here. \u201cThere are a variety of backgrounds you can come from to work in this space \u2014 that\u2019s what makes the team great,\u201d she says. \u201cIf you&#8217;re interested in cross-cultural connections, or socially beneficial technical solutions, this could be an area of interest.\u201d And if you\u2019re someone who\u2019s aware of their own unconscious biases, you might be naturally inclined toward a career in product fairness.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<h3>Bonus question: For Women\u2019s History Month, who are some of your women role models?<\/h3>\n<p>\u201cI have a strong group of female friends from high school who I\u2019ve kept in touch with over the years,\u201d Anne says. \u201cWe\u2019ve all pursued different paths and have various strengths in our careers, but when we meet up, I love hearing what they\u2019re passionate about and what they\u2019re working on.\u201d N\u2019Mah says Harriet Tubman has always been a symbol to her of what\u2019s possible in this country. \u201cShe persevered during a challenging moment in history and has done so much to push America forward socially.\u201d For Cherish, she looks up to Maya Angelou. \u201cShe had such an incredibly poignant impact on society through her activism and her literature.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/blog.google\/inside-google\/googlers\/meet-3-women-who-test-google-products-fairness\/\">Go to Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Author: One of the most interesting parts of working at Google is learning what other people do here \u2014 it\u2019s not uncommon to come across [&hellip;] <span class=\"read-more-link\"><a class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aiproblog.com\/index.php\/2022\/03\/17\/meet-3-women-who-test-google-products-for-fairness\/\">Read More<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":472,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aiproblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5498"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aiproblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aiproblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aiproblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aiproblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5498"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.aiproblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5498\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aiproblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/475"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aiproblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5498"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aiproblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5498"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aiproblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5498"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}