February 27, 2024 • 58 mins
As we sat down with Elizabeth M. Adams, the air buzzed with the kind of anticipation you feel right before a thunderstorm of ideas. Elizabeth, an inspiring advocate in responsible AI, navigates us through her journey of turning technology into an ally of human values. Our conversation unveils how Elizabeth's transformative experiences with AI bias have led her to become a pioneer in ethical AI, shaping principles that honor our human complexity. She shares her personal quest for joy within this rigorously demanding field, harmonizing love, resilience, and innovation with her ambition to create AI that respects and enhances our lives.
The episode also covers Elizabeth’s children’s books, stories that wield simple language about technical concepts and how these stories nurture her commitment to responsible AI.
Finally, we reflect on the peace that comes from aligning one's professional life with personal values, a harmony Elizabeth has found in Savannah, Georgia's serene embrace. Elizabeth contemplates the shifts in our lives as we prioritize peace, vocation, and financial stability, in that order. We also discuss the importance of setting boundaries, the abundance mindset, and staying open to what the future holds — be it grounded in the completion of academic pursuits or the potential of penning another book when inspiration strikes. Elizabeth's upcoming leadership course on responsible AI promises to be a treasure trove of insights for those eager to lead with conscience in the digital age.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:10):
Hi, I'm Elizabeth M Adams.
I hope when you look back atyour life you feel comfortable
following all of your passionsand desires, because you only go
once.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Welcome listeners to another episode of you Only Go
Once.
I am Eileen Grimes and I amhere again with my amazing and
wonderful co-host and friend,cheryl Contafio.
We are here tonight, on thisMonday evening, to have a
(01:00):
wonderfully insightful interviewand I'm so, so excited for the
guests we have on tonight and Iam going to pass it to Cheryl to
introduce Cheryl off to you.
Speaker 3 (01:12):
Thanks, eileen.
Elizabeth M Adams is aresponsible AI influencer,
recognized as one of Forbes 15AI ethics leaders showing the
world the way of the future.
She has studied the science ofbusiness and technology
influences on society for overtwo decades, while leading
large-scale technologyinitiatives for Fortune 500
companies and various governmentorganizations.
(01:34):
As a scholar practitioner,elizabeth has developed her
expertise working with technicaland non-technical leaders,
creating alliances with leadersthat translate theory into
results.
Elizabeth's commitment toinclusivity and ethical tech is
evident in her work, drivingbroader employees' stakeholder
engagement.
Currently pursuing a doctoratein leadership of responsible AI,
(01:57):
elizabeth's research focuses onhow leaders can engage
employees, particularly thoseexposed to AI harm, to introduce
the industry to modernizetechnology development concepts
through a societal lens.
Her goal is to encourageindividuals who have
traditionally been excluded fromthe AI landscape to become
active participants in buildingthe future of AI.
(02:19):
Really awesome stuff, elizabeth.
Welcome.
We're so happy to talk to you.
Speaker 1 (02:26):
Thank you so much.
I bring you both greetings fromSavannah Georgia.
Lovely it's a little chilly,but it's a rainy night.
Yeah, it's my enchanted place.
Speaker 3 (02:39):
I love it here.
That's fantastic.
I'm on the East Coast as well.
Eileen, as you know, is on theWest Coast.
I would love to hear more aboutSavannah Georgia, but first I
would love to know how you evenget started on this, because
this is really heady subjectmatter.
What started your journey onresponsible AI?
Speaker 1 (03:03):
Yeah, well, I didn't just jump into responsible AI.
I have been in the tech space,as you mentioned in the opening,
for over two decades.
My leadership philosophy hasalways been about advocacy,
whether it was advocacy for payequity or gender inclusion,
racial inclusion or just amulti-stakeholder approach.
(03:26):
I didn't use the termmulti-stakeholder then.
It was just like, oh, we haveto get these people involved,
whether it was marketing orfinance or whomever.
That philosophy has carried allof my leadership journey.
But it wasn't until about eightyears ago when I started to see
how these technologiesAI-enabled technologies were
(03:46):
making their way into society,into the marketplace, and they
weren't working for everyone.
I went to just follow mycuriosity.
I started talking to dataengineers and data scientists
about what is this thing calledAI bias.
While I was getting someinitial information, I wasn't
(04:06):
really satisfied.
I didn't really know where togo, but I just started having
these learning events.
In one particular learning eventI was working for an
organization.
Over 70 people showed up.
It was a learning event aroundracial and gender bias in facial
recognition technology.
I knew I was onto somethingwhen that many people showed up.
(04:28):
That was in 2019.
Then I was approached by thechief privacy officer at the
time and general counsel to be apart of a small working group
helping to write the first AIethics principles.
That was when the journeystarted, 2017, 2018.
I wrote a book that I thinkmaybe five people downloaded.
(04:48):
It was called why Black WomenShould Care About Artificial
Intelligence.
It was really just my way tocrystallize my learning.
Basically, that's how it gotstarted.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
Yeah, that's great.
I need to get that book now.
Sorry, right, no, truly, I'msure.
Since 2019, there's only morethat you have continued to learn
along the way when AI is beingused and in all of that, there's
(05:24):
such a broad scope now of theapplications and the possibility
for things going awry.
Speaker 1 (05:32):
Yeah, that is true.
It's still so.
As you mentioned in the opening, I started my doctorate a few
years ago, 2021.
I actually thought by this time, responsible AI would be old
news.
I really did.
I thought that the world wouldhave caught up and we would be
doing all the things and we'd beon to the next thing.
(05:53):
I was really concerned that myresearch would be old but it's
not.
Even just this weekend, when Iwas talking to people about
different types of biases, itwas a group of people that I was
presenting to biases and facialrecognition mentioned that in
healthcare algorithms, in loanalgorithms, who decides what
(06:15):
algorithms decide what groups ofpeople get loans and insurance
rates, and you could go on andon.
Every aspect of our lives.
Basically, I feel like AI is amirror of our human existence.
I realized that people arestill new, like the people I
presented to.
I think I was so over theirhead because I've been doing
(06:35):
this for so long.
I made assumptions that peopleat least understood AI bias.
Speaker 3 (06:42):
Yeah, sure.
Speaker 1 (06:45):
But for someone like me I keep trying to pivot it
feels like, well, I keep tryingto pivot because I really want
to envision a world whereartificial intelligence serves
as a bridge between all of ourbeautiful intricacies in our
human experience.
That's what I want to do.
I want to talk about thepossibilities, because I've
(07:07):
spent so long talking about thechallenges and there are new
people coming into the space andI'm like, yeah, let them do
that.
I want to move more towardswhere my heart really is.
That's where I'm focused now.
Is that pivoting?
Speaker 3 (07:22):
Okay, yeah.
Speaker 1 (07:25):
I know.
Speaker 3 (07:26):
It's a lot.
Speaker 1 (07:27):
It is.
It is it's year after yearafter year, and you're talking
about the same thing.
That's like, how do I find thejoy in this work?
That's one of the reasons why Imoved to Savannah, okay,
because I'm like if I'm going tocontinue in this space, I need
to be able to detach in someplace that's magical and
(07:48):
enchanted and I can do all thistravel to these different sea
islands and I can feel myselfwith beautiful things, so that
when I do sit down every morningto start this work, I know that
at the end of the day, there'ssomething incredible for me
waiting.
That's great.
Speaker 2 (08:09):
So how do you, now that you're working on this
pivot, what does that look like?
What are some of the efforts?
What is?
I know that and again, this isme still learning in the space,
but AI is only as good as thedata that we feed it right and
in a world that doesn't yetexist, necessarily with the data
(08:30):
, how do we inform that?
How do we move forward intothis new paradigm to allow for
that data to really enhance theway we're living, to
collectively help our stories,versus being something that's
completely biased from thehistory of what data has been?
Speaker 1 (08:53):
Yeah, that's a great question.
One thing I'll say is in thisspace of AI, a gazillion things
can be true at the same time.
We can continue to have AIchallenges, ai bias, challenges
in the data, how the data isformed, how it's annotated, how
it's aggregated.
We can continue to have that.
But we can also envision aworld that's a little bit more
(09:16):
beautiful, where we're havingconversations about how we
connect to one another, and forme, that pivot looks like
starting to share those stories.
If I can share all those biasstories for all those years and
people can get attached to themand start working on the things,
then what would happen if Istarted talking about how our
(09:40):
conversations help determine whohas a seat at the table?
The narratives that we warmabout each other can help decide
who we think is who we want towork beside us, right?
So if we start sharing thestories that take it off of the
bias and talk about the humanexperience whether it's AI harm
(10:04):
or good human experience thenmaybe we see people for, like I
said, the beautiful humanitythat we are as opposed to
othering.
So what I have found issometimes, when we talk about
bias, we have to talk about well, why do we have bias and what
groups are impacted, and whenyou talk to people who have
(10:24):
never had the experience ofbeing on the other end of AI
harm.
It feels to me when I'mcommunicating this, that I'm
talking about others and nottheir neighbors, and not people
that they go to church with orwherever they have a religious
practice or whatever they do,both community center or where
they go to send their kids toschool.
(10:44):
It's almost like those peoplethat are over there that are
having the problem and my hopeis to say no, those are your
friends, those are people thatyou like, but just because you
don't have that experiencedoesn't mean that they're not.
So starting to have thoseconversations about how we have
(11:05):
to change the narrative aroundwhat society looks like and
change society, change the viewsaround what innovation looks
like and who can be an innovatorand who can help us create a
world where we can all thriveAll of us are going to need to
do that and we're going to needto put our big boys and girls
(11:28):
clothes on or whatever, and cometo the table and just have
those very, very.
They can be difficult, but, inthe end, awesome conversations,
absolutely.
Speaker 2 (11:40):
And I'm only asking because I want to spark these
conversations.
My full-time job is inconsulting with leaders and
creating cultures of humans, ofactually seeing each other's
humanity.
So on board, totally on boardwith this and completely behind
(12:01):
it with you on all of that.
And if we're not setting thosespaces up, talking about the
technology part of it, I meanit's a whole other layer right
but if we can't even be humantogether, we've got a problem.
Speaker 1 (12:13):
Yeah, we do, and I just for me.
Again, it's helping peoplereimagine where innovation might
occur.
It could occur kitchen table,where someone has their laptop,
someone that you don't even knowyou're not familiar with their
culture, the food they like orwhatever it is, but they're
learning prompt engineeringskills through a community on
(12:34):
Facebook where they're beingtaught and it's a safe space and
that's innovation and they cancertainly partner with those who
have suits on every day, whohave a four-year degree and are
just learning about promptengineering.
Some groups are forced to haveto learn, to upscale and reskill
(12:54):
, so we just have to change theconversation about where
innovation can occur and whatpartnerships in innovation might
look like.
Speaker 3 (13:04):
So what does that look like for you?
Because you've mentioned acouple of things now.
Like people learn in differentways, people are innovative
through different venues.
Right For you.
What was the spark for you?
How did you find yourinnovative spirit?
Speaker 1 (13:22):
Oh, that started as a child.
Yeah, that started as a child.
I was always very interested inhow things worked, but I was
also interested in people.
I could always sense when theenergy was off in the room as an
impact.
I didn't know, I was an impactat the time so I could always
sense that.
So I always had this love formaking sure that people thrived
(13:45):
in whatever environment theywere.
So if they had a little, makingsure that they felt good and
were thriving in that, or ifthey had a lot.
But the other pieces came interms of the mechanical
engineering pieces, where I wasjust always tinkering with
things and putting thingstogether.
And then I had an architectureclass once that I loved and got
(14:06):
to intern at 3M for threesummers building, oh wow.
And so I was like, oh my God,that's amazing.
Yeah, so.
And then I write children'sbooks.
So I have four, but all of themwere a way for me to use my
mind in a different way.
So, as I was writing the booksusing very simple language, I
(14:31):
was solving large problems froma Stanford fellowship that I had
in the city of Minneapolisright after George Floyd's
murder, so working withpolicymakers and community on
joining together, on shareddecision making, and the way to
solve that was to go write verybasic language for children.
It's weird, but that's how mymind works.
(14:54):
It's like I need somethingwhere it's not as taxing, but I
know this thing is over here andso that's what I need.
So for me, I need these spaceswhere I can kind of go and act
as a participant and, I guess, aresearcher, now that I know
that that's what I am and kindof sit and explore and then
(15:16):
tinker with some things myself.
Speaker 2 (15:20):
That's incredible.
Speaker 3 (15:21):
Yeah, that's amazing that you're using but it is you
use like both sides of yourbrain.
We just so.
We just interviewed somebodylast week that has a very
similar like thought.
Right, he's crafted thesechildren's stories to explain
financial principles and the guyis like all into the
(15:44):
spreadsheets and what it can doand the and the possibilities
and the very human stories thatgo with financial stability in
his community.
So I I really love this thatyou do this.
Can you share the?
Have you published the booksLike?
(16:04):
Can you?
Speaker 1 (16:04):
share those because we're happy to talk about those
little.
I am pity they're in online and40 different online stores
around the world.
So to that I have published ourlittle AI and PD, and then
little miss Minnesota and hersix brothers I'm from Minnesota.
About my brothers and I andthen I have them on a website,
(16:25):
EMA bookscom, so I sing alongand read alongs and just, yeah,
some real fun stuff.
So when I go into schools wetypically sing the song called
safe technology and gosh, I lovethis.
Yeah, so that's my, that's myother joy right is just kind of
(16:46):
like okay, you use my mind, Iget to.
Just it's all the emotion, hardwork.
Speaker 3 (16:55):
Love it, love it.
I cannot wait to check out yourwebsite, because I just think
that's phenomenal.
That's so cool, oh my goodness.
So Eileen is also a publishedauthor, and she's Eileen.
Share your.
Share a little bit about yourbook as well.
Go for it.
Speaker 2 (17:13):
Yep, I just said no, I mean one, I'm.
This is like I want to talk toElizabeth now for like I don't
many hours, because the thingsyou're saying I just yeah.
So I also wrote a children'sbook, but it's a.
It's a collaborative parent andchild journal.
So so you're answer, you'reboth answering prompts at the
(17:36):
same time.
Whether you want to do that, Ihave neurodivergent kids and I
am myself, and so being able toexpress yourself in whatever way
, shape or form, whether it'sthrough writing or art or
whatever it was, was reallyimportant for me, and having
that they're setting up the waythat it did.
So anyway.
So you're answering bothanswering prompts, but as a way
to connect with each other andsee each other more fully, and I
(18:02):
just really want, I just wantother humans to feel like they
can be loved and accepted asthey are, without having to
change what that is, and givingparents an opportunity to see
their kids as they are, ratherthan having to feel like they're
molding them into somethingthat they're expecting you know.
So, anyway, yes, I yeah.
Speaker 1 (18:24):
I love that so much.
I just think that that is sobeautiful, the way you just
described it.
I, for most of my life, havefelt that way that I really just
wanted to explore me.
I've never really fit into someof the boxes that people tend
to want to put a technologist in, or black, or someone from
Minnesota, or whatever the boxesthe boxes are.
(18:48):
I really just feel like I'm likea butterfly where I like to
just kind of land and see what'shappening and then you know,
get some learning from thatcontribute and then move on to
kind of like the next thing andpossibly that came from.
So my mother was was killed ina car accident when I was six
years old, so I did not get togrow up with that mother's kind
(19:12):
of guidance.
So I have six brothers excuseme, had six brothers, one past,
and so I've always felt like Iwas this, this journey or if
that makes sense.
Speaker 2 (19:22):
And so as part of that.
Speaker 1 (19:25):
It's where I always try to land.
Wherever I try to land, I tryto find some joy, because that
joy was taken at a very earlyage and I think it's also why I
just have developed this senseof why I want people to thrive
and feel good in life, becausethat at an early age I know what
that feels like.
It's like devastating.
(19:45):
And then just not at an earlyage, but as you get to see other
people connect with theirmothers and you're not even as a
little girl every mother's day.
So all of these things that havebeen a part of my life, that
have felt like some sort of agap I've tried to feel with the
way that feels natural to comeout of me and that's really love
(20:10):
and that's really this heartplace where I really want to see
people thrive.
So in my life now it justhappens to be that responsible
AI is that way that.
I want to experience love, andpart of it was we have to tell
people about all thesechallenges so that we can get it
fixed, so we can experiencelove.
And then I realized I could betalking about this for years, as
(20:33):
I mentioned.
So now I'm like I really wantto just help people think
differently about people who areharmed, and not that there are
others, but that they're.
You know, we all think and feeland have experiences that can
unite us in a great way.
Speaker 2 (20:53):
Yeah, definitely, and what's interesting too, and
tell me if I'm projecting, andthat's totally fine.
I'm just really excited to hearyour story.
It also sounds like you're alsoin that, like it is the
butterfly and it's also.
It's one where you're findingjoy in those places.
It's also one in where you'refinding growth in those places
(21:14):
and when you no longer find thatyou're growing, it's like you
want something to now learn moreof or to expand your
understanding.
So you know you've been doingthis one thing for a while.
It's kind of like okay, and nownow?
How do I grow now?
How do I learn something moreor new or bring a different kind
of component into into this?
Speaker 1 (21:38):
Yeah, Well, I hadn't really considered the growth
part of it, but that could be it.
I think if it were stillinteresting, I would not want to
pivot, and what I mean by thatis if I didn't have to start
from ground zero with a bunch ofpeople several times a year.
(21:58):
Does that make sense.
Speaker 2 (22:00):
And so maybe through your point.
Speaker 1 (22:02):
We could grow together.
But when I have to start, afterI've been doing this for so
long and it feels like I shouldbe oh I don't know how to
explain it feels like I shouldbe on the.
I should be on the 50 yard lineevery time when I start
speaking about it, but manytimes I'm not one yard one and
(22:26):
then I have to sit and listen.
Well, people in this space whohave influence are catching up
and part of my decision is thatI won't do that If that makes
sense.
Not because I can't, butbecause I just don't see myself
there anymore.
I see myself so.
(22:48):
So part of it is this I sawmyself as a true educator,
action oriented person when Ifirst got into this.
Now I'm like no, I'm reallykind of like a thought leader.
Here I have an experience whereI could be guiding people
(23:09):
differently, as opposed tohelping people catch up like
there's enough LinkedIn coursesfor that and shout out I have
one coming up this week.
Okay, but there's enoughcourses for that.
And I've had to make some toughchoices and say it turned down
some engagements because once Ifound out what I was going to be
paid to do, even though it wasgood money, it was like I don't
(23:31):
want that money, I don't wantthat I don't want that
experience that's tied to thatmoney.
Okay, and sometimes I want theexperience that there's not a
lot of money, but it puts me inthe light of how I see myself
now.
Speaker 3 (23:48):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (23:49):
That makes sense because I know we're all over
the place and I'll give you anexample.
I got an invitation to go toLondon recently to participate
with some, some leaders on doingsome activities that excited me
like you wouldn't believe,because my pillars of life are
peace.
First I need peace, I have tohave peace, one of the reasons
(24:10):
why I'm down here in Savannah.
Then I need the vocation thataligns with the piece.
So, it has to be a vocation thatI will speak, but usually when
I speak I'm not doing.
I'm not going to be on stagewith presentation for a whole
hour.
That makes sense.
So it has to be the way thatworks for me.
(24:32):
And then the next pillar ismoney.
Okay.
So peace, vocation, money.
So money is great, but ifthere's no peace, I don't want
it.
Okay.
So I've had those situationswhere people like, oh well, can
you do this and can you do this,or we need to have 10 meetings.
And I'm like, oh yeah, I didn'tsign up for that.
(24:55):
So, yeah, and it's just thatpart of life, I think, as you
get older, where you're likeyeah, I don't know if that's
what I want to do, this is whatI want to do, and you do more of
that.
Speaker 2 (25:08):
Yeah, when did those?
When did you realize those wereyour three pillars?
Speaker 1 (25:14):
And actually the end of last year, as I started
getting invitations for things,and so in the responsible AI
community there's a group ofwomen and we share what each
other's making or what we'vebeen offered.
I love that.
Speaker 3 (25:28):
That's fantastic.
Speaker 1 (25:30):
Yeah, by different conferences, okay.
So I realized that it's at somepoint I was like that's great,
you're getting that, I would dothat one for free.
Speaker 2 (25:41):
Sure.
Speaker 1 (25:43):
But wouldn't help the industry yeah.
Speaker 2 (25:46):
Right.
Speaker 1 (25:47):
I'm taking it for free and someone else is you
know what I'm saying?
Speaker 3 (25:51):
Yes, yes, yeah.
Speaker 1 (25:54):
So that was the challenge for me.
But then I had to, honestly, Ihad to be true to myself and and
I had to have this conversationwith these women and say I
might take something that's forno money, but it doesn't mean
you should, right.
But if it's something I want todo, I'm going to do it, and if
(26:19):
you tell me that they're goingto pay this much, then I'll ask
for it.
But there, but I'm not going tolook at every opportunity that
comes my way through a financiallens.
It has to be through a peacelens, first Peaceful lens, and
then the vocation is this what Iwant my life to be about right
(26:39):
now, in this time and space?
And then the money is a bonus,because I've lost a few things
before, so I know how to liveoff of beans and rice.
Honestly, not that I plan to,but I'm just saying sure, it's
sure.
Speaker 3 (26:56):
I know how to do that .
Yeah, it's really refreshingyour pillars because I think you
know as you enter corporateAmerica it's it almost feels as
though you are conditioned tochase the dollar right.
And it's right.
I think it does come withExperience as you move forward
(27:19):
that the dollar is great if itkeeps you sustained and healthy
and happy and where you want tobe.
But that is not the be all andall.
So you're in Savannah, georgia.
What gives you life in Savannah?
Like what, what what drew youto Savannah Specifically?
Speaker 1 (27:40):
that's such a great question.
So a few years ago, as Imentioned, I was in Minneapolis.
I'm from Minnesota, I've spent25 years in DC and then my
father got sick.
I moved home and it neverreally felt like home after I
had been off and been away andbeen in DC and I felt so
connected there.
Speaker 3 (28:01):
Mm-hmm.
Speaker 1 (28:02):
Um, and I just felt like I was suffocating.
I felt like I was doing really,really phenomenal work and I
was To help with a cityinitiative Excuse me that
eventually resulted in thecommunity and policymakers
deciding that there was acertain AI enabled facial
(28:23):
recognition tool that they didnot want in their in their
community, and they unanimouslyvoted to ban it.
So there's any policy.
So I was like it was really.
It was going really really well.
I Just felt like there wasn'tenough for me To do outside of,
I mean, in beautiful lakes, butno one was really talking about
(28:45):
AI, it's I don't know, it's justsomething about about the area,
and so I started thinking aboutwhere else to go.
It was just kind ofserendipitous.
I had Savannah in the back ofmy mind because I had visited St
Simon's Island a couple duringcold it, and then a friend of
mine visited.
She shared these pictures.
(29:06):
I was like, oh my gosh, it'salmost like Fernwaugh.
Do you know what Fernwaugh is?
It's, I think the German wordis insatiable desire to be
somewhere you haven't beenbefore.
Oh, Okay so it just kind ofleaped in me, and so Then I
started an opportunity with thisorganization and one of the
persons I interviewed with hashad just purchased a home here.
(29:27):
I was like, oh my gosh, pleaseshare your realtor information.
They did.
Two months later I'm down herelooking for a house.
And then I put a Contract on ahouse, had it built and move
last March.
Speaker 2 (29:42):
Wow, my gosh.
Speaker 1 (29:45):
So and I know that I'm in the right place, because
it just every day I wake up andI'm like good morning.
Good morning because I havebehind me an enchanted forest.
It's just and oh Beautiful.
But at night there's all thesecreatures that my camera catches
, but during the day you see thesmet Spanish moss and the way
(30:06):
the sun beams on the trees.
It's just, it's just amazing.
So it just lifts me and Then tobe able to do my doctoral work,
which was from here Again, tobe able to be a good Store it
and honor the stories that havebeen shared with me, this just
feels like that place to do thatWonderful.
(30:30):
I get that I want really hard toget here it.
There really are places for us.
Speaker 2 (30:38):
Yeah, I Feel for me.
I feel at home in the mountains, like that's when I'm in
mountain, that's my like.
I just feel like there arethings that call yeah, and it
feels like Savannah was callingyou.
Speaker 1 (30:53):
Well it, yes, I don't know if this is my final mode,
but it was calling me for thisreason in my life, because I
really wanted a Place where Icould do my interviews for my
research and not feelinterrupted by the noises of the
day or distractions.
I just I don't know.
(31:13):
I just felt like when I wasinterviewing participants for my
study that I was actuallyOutside with a notepad that's
how it felt, notepad takingtheir stories in, because I was
here in Savannah and and I justwas like, oh my god, I'm so
blessed, this is so great to beable to do this, and so now I'm
(31:35):
writing up the findings From allof those stories and, yeah,
this is just the right momentfor me here.
Speaker 3 (31:44):
Fantastic, yeah, fantastic.
I know Eileen says that she's,you know, she's happiest in the
mountains.
I Disappear into books, sothat's kind of my jam.
So you know, I was just sharingwith Eileen A story that I had
read about.
You know all fiction, I loveall fiction and things like that
.
So yeah, yeah it's, it's apeaceful, peaceful thing I'm so
(32:11):
glad that you found a place,though I have a.
I have a friend who istraveling the East Coast at this
point, trying to figure outwhen her place is in the world,
because she's she's had a lot oflet's just say, she's had a lot
of Challenges in 2020,challenges in 2023, and she is
(32:35):
trying to find her place andshe's been talking about the
South quite a bit, reallyexcited, and I don't think she's
coming back to Pennsylvania.
I think she feels like you didin Minnesota, maybe a little bit
stifled.
So I'm I'm wishing her well onthat.
Do you generally like to travelor do you like to be in?
(32:57):
Okay, so, so for the folks thatlistening in the, elizabeth is
shaking her head.
Speaker 1 (33:04):
Yeah, sorry, is there no, that's okay.
Speaker 3 (33:08):
Do you have a dream destination that you'd like to
visit?
Speaker 1 (33:13):
Hmm, I don't know.
I, for whatever reason, stBarts has been this elusive
place for me, because I've beenall over the world, I've had the
fortunate pleasure of travelingto many different countries and
, for whatever reason, I am abig fan of opulence.
Okay, I love.
(33:33):
I tell you like I love opulence, like I could sit in opulence
for my whole life and never,ever Come out of it, and so, and
that's all the things, that'sall.
So I was in Saudi Arabia, letme see, oh, september of 2023
and I'm going there in a coupleweeks, and that experience was
(33:54):
like, totally opulent for me.
Speaker 2 (33:59):
No so.
Speaker 1 (34:00):
I don't know.
I just picked these kind ofopulent places in my mind to go
to and then I'll go and create avision board of all the things
that I that I like about them,but I can't say that there's one
one place.
I would go anywhere wherethere's opulence.
So I was in Charleston, southCarolina, last weekend for my
birthday and it was a reallygood experience my birthday and
it was my first time spendingtime there.
(34:21):
Had been to go to a museum lastyear but I didn't get a chance
to move around the city andfriend flew in, we went, we
drove over, it's like under twohours and I was like this is
like the Beverly Hills of thesouth and I used to live in
Beverly Hills.
Okay, I decided just to giveyou an idea.
(34:42):
One time I was was done withMinnesota and put all my things
up for sale and moved to BeverlyHills for a year.
Wow, explore this sense ofperceived opulence like I didn't
know again it was an armoire,to sensational desire to be
somewhere you've never been.
And that's what I felt aboutCharleston.
(35:04):
I felt like it was the BeverlyHills of the south.
I was like, oh my gosh, theselook at the all these little
stores Top into.
It was fabulous, not a greattime.
Speaker 3 (35:14):
That's terrific, and happy birthday, thank you.
Oh now, are you a person thathas that celebrates a birthday
month, or are you a person thatjust celebrates the day?
Because I have friends that arelike it's my birthday month.
Like what are we doing?
So what does that like?
What does what does yourcelebration of, of your life
(35:38):
look like?
Speaker 1 (35:39):
This year was just a day, okay, but in the past I've
done like several years ago Iworked for an airline service
organization and I could fly forfree.
So that particular year I did Idon't know I attempted to do a
number of cities.
I got up to 50.
Wow.
(36:02):
So as long as I hit the zipcode, that's how I was, that's
how I didn't have to be anovernight stay.
So, yeah, just really reallydepends.
I would like to celebrate allyear just the good things and
just have a nice Wyatt birthdaydinner or something like that on
(36:22):
a yacht.
again, we're talking opulencewith love it Okay, but but I
would really like to justcelebrate all year.
Speaker 3 (36:31):
That's great.
It is awesome.
So getting back to AI for alittle bit.
Speaker 1 (36:39):
Absolutely.
Speaker 3 (36:39):
You know I lean and I are big fans of celebrating
women and STEM, women andscience, women and technology
All the different technologiesthat are out there.
Yesterday was the InternationalWomen and Girls Day in Science.
If there was any advice for thenext generation that you had,
(37:07):
if they're interested intechnology, responsible AI,
anything that's that's coming up, what would your advice be to
them?
Speaker 1 (37:20):
I would say that to play with as many AI tools as
you can, or tech tools, orwhatever it is, and then,
wherever your curiosity takesyou or your passion, go there.
Start there, I would say,because no one ever gave me that
advice and I was all over theplace and took me years to
(37:42):
really figure out what I liked,and I kept other people kept
telling me that what I likedwasn't normal but I knew what I
liked.
And so had I been groomed, orguided, I should say, into a
path of passion, I think my lifewould be very different.
It would still be in technology, but I think I wouldn't have
(38:05):
had to work so hard for so manyyears to advocate for myself.
Because I think some again,because we need to appreciate
that innovation is going to lookdifferently.
So it would be play with asmany tools as you like.
If you like PowerPoint, playwith as many AI PowerPoint type
(38:25):
tools, I shouldn't sayPowerPoint presentation type
tools.
If you like mechanics, playwith as many AI tools that can
help you think about doing beinga mechanic differently,
whatever it is, and see wherethat curiosity takes you.
If it takes you down a path ofpassion.
That would be my suggestion.
Speaker 2 (38:47):
I love that and I also I was doing some RPA work a
little while ago, and one ofthe things that I loved about
that was the group that we hadwas not just with the bunch of
20 year olds, it was also withpeople who were later in their
careers.
And you know, to me, there's nowrong time to start either,
(39:10):
right, it's not something thatyou are finding interest in or
pull towards right, there's notoo late for this stuff either,
and I just I think that's reallygreat and there are accessible
ways to find that.
Yeah, I just that's one of thethings we like to encourage here
on the you Only Go Once podcast, right, where it's like so what
(39:31):
if you're, you know, 70 yearsold and you want to do something
different?
Go for it, right.
So I just that's been anamazing thing about the AI side
of things, too.
I've seen a lot of people diveinto it, at whatever age.
Speaker 1 (39:46):
Yeah, I just.
That is my philosophy, so I'lltell you a quick story.
In December, I happened upon aFacebook group that was called
it's, where you share AI prompts.
Now, I have been focused on mydoctorate work that I didn't
really get into a lot ofgenerative AI, I didn't have
(40:07):
time to take anothercertification, I didn't have
time to do a whole lot ofreading of other books because I
had all these articlesassociated with my research.
But again, because you guysknow, based on what I said, I
like to have this other part ofmy brain where it's kind of like
mindless, where I'm justexploring, and so in this
community I can't help but to bea researcher.
(40:27):
I was just shocked at how manypeople were trying prompt
engineering for the first timeand just getting so tickled by
these images or things that theywere creating and without even
realizing the skills thatthey're building.
But the fact that it was a safespace to make mistakes, it was
(40:49):
a safe space to ask questions,and that's what I just really
think that no matter what yourage is, to find these
communities where you can learn.
I'm also in another one for mydoctorate program and there are
several people in there who justkind of sit and observe and
then every once in a whileyou'll see a post where
(41:10):
someone's like oh, I just gotaccepted to this doctorate
program, thank you.
I've been here for five yearswatching you all taking it in,
and I'm right, and I just thinkthat sometimes you just need a
place where you can kind of justgo at your own pace and see
what others are doing, feelcomfortable to ask questions and
(41:31):
then, when it's your time tocome out the gate or whatever it
is, there you go and not toforce people into a timeline or
box or a type of study Like justgo where your heart leads you,
because at the end of the day,your heart knows what work
(41:54):
you're supposed to do and youcan feel it in every part of
your body.
You light up when you are doingwork that just excites you and
so.
But part of that means you haveto have a safe space to explore
, to kind of test out some ofthese things that you think.
Like when I first started mydoctorate, I wanted to take my
(42:17):
dissertation and have it be amovie, short or a book.
So three years ago I don't havethat desire anymore.
I've played around with somethings and it's not on my on the
top of my list anymore Ifsomeone comes, maybe.
But I pursued some differentavenues and I'm like, yeah,
that's not anymore and so.
(42:39):
But I've had an opportunity tobe in some safe spaces where I
could explore some other things,if that makes sense.
If I would have cut those otherthings off because my mind was
just set on this one thing, andif that were the thing for me,
my mind would be set on that.
Do you know what I mean?
If that was exactly the road Iwas supposed to take, then my
(43:00):
mind would be set on that, butthe fact that it's not there
anymore.
It's still a hope, but it's notnecessarily any.
There's no action behind it.
So these safe spaces areimportant to be able to explore
what we want out of life.
Speaker 3 (43:15):
Sure.
Speaker 2 (43:17):
Definitely.
What you said, just, I don'tknow, hit me real really deeply.
Just the knowingness in yourheart about we know, we know
where we're meant to be, whatwe're meant to be doing when
we're in those spaces, right,when you find those and I, you
(43:38):
know, I found things like that,like with people too.
I mean, the fact that Cheryland I get to do this podcast is
one of those heart-knowingspaces for me, right, yes, you
know, how do you?
What does that feel like foryou when you were in that heart
space?
What is that knowingness foryou?
(43:59):
Or maybe, what is it when it'snot Like, how do you get to the
point to say, hmm, yeah, I'm notthere right now?
I need to relook at this orstart thinking differently.
Speaker 1 (44:13):
Yeah.
So again, I think it goes backto the pillars, which is it
would be peaceful.
Right Is the way that someoneapproached me.
Is there energy?
Is this thing?
Does it put me at ease?
Because if I'm at ease, then Ican be my full self and whatever
my full self is for thatparticular moment.
(44:36):
But it has to start with peacefor me and then I go from there.
So and I'll give you an exampleof some things that don't feel
peaceful, I had mentioned that Idid this presentation last.
I mentioned, I had to do apresentation and and that I
thought I was speaking thisbeautiful life into the room.
(45:00):
I really did it Like it was onme, but it wasn't received that
way, it wasn't celebrated thatway.
Not that there was anythingwrong with the people.
They were looking for somethingelse.
Does that make sense?
So then I get a call fromanother group of people and
(45:22):
they're telling me how they wantme to do the presentation and
tears almost welled up in mywelled it up in my eyes because
I'm like that's what I want todo.
I want to talk about howtechnology or AI can act as a
way to help harmonize technologyand humanity.
When they said it and this ishow they were talking about it
(45:44):
we would really like you to dosomething that kind of brings us
along gently.
And what that was so warmingfor me Versus this other
conversation, which is peopleneed to know X, y and Z, was
almost like they were trying toforce me into a conversation to
(46:07):
help them grow.
I get that.
And does that make sense?
So, yes, the different ways.
Now some other people might say, oh yeah, I'm on that the other
way or this other way that Ilike.
They might say, oh, that's toosoft, how can leaders?
That's not how leaders lead.
But when I was done with thatpresentation, I just my whole
(46:31):
body was just full ofunadulterated joy Because I knew
that what I put out into theuniverse was received.
It was from the purest part ofme and the people were able to
receive it from that purestplace, versus some fake version
(46:54):
of me, because I've alreadyentered into some contracts and
I didn't really ask the rightquestions and so now I've got to
perform for you.
Speaker 3 (47:02):
Mm, hmm, mm, hmm, and that's the sense.
Yeah, yeah, there's a mix ofvulnerability and authenticity
in that, for sure.
And then it's just the wholebravery of will people get this
and I love that you got somebodywho made the connection and
they're like help, help us alongthe way, like come and share
(47:24):
your story with us so that wecan help others connect with
this, like that's a, that's abeautiful thing when that
happens.
Like that's good.
Kismet is what that is.
That's a.
That's a wonderful space.
Yeah, and after that I just said, I want more of this, Like I
just want more of this becauseit was so peaceful, and so there
(47:45):
was the piece, the vocation,and they paid me really really
well.
Hey right.
Speaker 1 (47:54):
And then there's yep, had me really, really well to
come and be gentle with it andto talk about a world, that
where we envision, where all ofus are successful with AI.
And it was the first time Ididn't use a professional type
presentation and had all theseZen colors and greens and you
(48:17):
know what I mean.
Speaker 2 (48:18):
Like it's just different.
Speaker 1 (48:21):
And then I but this thing I've always said is that I
wanted to be like the BrenéBrown of AI, where I really
wanted a platform where we talkabout empathy and vulnerability
and just really finding yourpassion and being okay with that
, no matter what others wouldsay, and talking about what that
(48:41):
looks like.
Because I've had to do thatwith family and friends and
colleagues, I've had to say no,that doesn't work for me, at the
risk of people who don'tnormally do that it can become.
It can feel as if I'm offensiveto them Because they're not
used to people advocating forthemselves to continue in a
(49:06):
light and so.
But I've had to learn how todeal with that as well.
Speaker 3 (49:11):
Sure.
Speaker 2 (49:12):
Yeah, yeah, oh, my gosh and such.
It's so well, whether or notyou believe in the universal
laws of abundance or whatever itis right, but there are doors
that open for us, that are meantfor us, and then those keep
coming.
When we acknowledge that, likethis yes, this is what I want,
(49:33):
keep it coming.
Like these are the engagementsthat I want to be a part of,
these are the people, those arethe parts that I'm meant to
speak to and these are thevoices that are meant to, or
this is who is meant to hear myvoice, and I just think I don't
know.
That was really helpful to knowthat not everyone is for me and
(49:54):
I'm not for everyone either,and the right ones will come to
me.
Speaker 1 (50:01):
Yeah, I think it takes enough experiences to your
point where you were, Excuse me, where you ask yourself well
that didn't feel rightafterwards.
You've done like 50 of these.
That don't feel right.
Speaker 2 (50:17):
Is this what?
Speaker 1 (50:18):
you want, right?
So how are we going to changeit?
So then I started sharing.
So this is one of the things Idid.
So I did I used to speak for anhour and then I changed and say
I'm only going to speak for 20minutes and then I'll do Q&A.
I'll do 30 minutes and then Q&A.
So that was a little better forme because I really wanted to
(50:39):
engage.
Then that time less and less.
So now I'm asking for the sameamount of money, but I'm doing
it for I'm talking for 15minutes because I really want to
engage.
Speaker 2 (50:52):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (50:52):
I want to know what are the things that are
interesting to the people sothat I can have that
conversation with them.
So it's shared learning.
But it took me a while to getthere and say you really prepped
like eight hours for that andit wasn't peaceful, it wasn't
what you wanted to do and youdidn't make as much money as you
(51:13):
thought you need because youspent all this time preparing.
So just thinking about all ofthat.
Speaker 3 (51:21):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (51:24):
It's so helpful.
It takes a while to get.
It takes a while to like be inthose shoes and to learn that
right, Like data input, yeah,and we're learning that from
that as we go along and as longas we're self-reflective and
take those moments to look backand think is that the right data
(51:47):
that I want?
Is it?
Does this actually make sensefor me moving forward?
It takes time to pause and thatcan be hard too.
Speaker 1 (51:57):
It can be hard because we all have to eat and
we all have bills to pay.
Speaker 3 (52:02):
Yes, right.
Speaker 1 (52:05):
And so sitting there and so I think honestly where I
am in life is I have this 100%posture of trust.
That's taking, taking years.
So, for instance, I may notknow where the next six
presentations will come from,but I know that they'll come.
So, taking that worry out ofthe equation, because I've spent
(52:32):
so much time in reflection andhonoring my intuition that I
know I'm being guided where I'msupposed to be guided, and that
looks very weird for my familyand friends, I bet.
They want to know what is?
Your plan.
Speaker 2 (52:51):
I mean other than the doctorate.
Speaker 1 (52:54):
I don't really have a plan until after the doctorate.
Then I can say oh yeah, I wantto, I want to hang on on the
beach and be next to a Tiki bar,but right now I have to finish
the doctorate.
So that is my, my plan, and mywish in prayer had always been
that I could honor thisdoctorate and really take in
(53:14):
these stories that people wouldtell me and then do the writing,
and not be forced into someoneelse's program for 40 hours a
week and not be able to honorthese, these stories, if that
makes sense.
And so, and that has come true,so I'm able to honor the
stories and, lo and behold,someone pings me through the, my
(53:36):
website or something like that,or someone contacts me and I'm
like okay, thank you.
Speaker 2 (53:42):
That's great, amazing , yeah, and now that, because
we're already hit, we're hittingup at the hour, so one of our
last questions is literallywhat's on your?
This is happening, so this ishappening for us.
Is this like call to what'snext?
This, you know, feeling like wedon't want to leave any cards
(54:03):
on the table, and it seems likeyou're just open to that.
The next thing is finishing thedissertation, right, and then
honoring that, and I think thatthat, in and of itself, I mean
that answers the question right.
That is what's incredible, andthat you're open to see where
that goes at the completion ofthat too.
Speaker 1 (54:24):
I am, but I am living a life where I'm open to the
experiences that show up and Iget courage every day when I can
say yes or no, because, again,I have found these pillars that
work for me.
And so what's next is honoringthose pillars in every decision
(54:46):
that I make, which I know willlead me to ultimately where I'm
supposed to be always.
Speaker 2 (54:56):
Sounds like a next book really to me, it really
does, it really does.
Speaker 1 (55:01):
Well, I'm waiting for the perfect.
So I what I don't want to do isself publish.
So I just believe that somebodyelse figure some big money for
me and that's what I'll wait for.
I won't.
I won't self publish.
So so not saying there'sanything wrong with that.
I know my, I know my path, ifthat makes sense, because self
(55:21):
publishing, I did that with four, two books.
It wasn't peaceful, it wasgreat, but it wasn't peaceful.
And so now that I know, yeah,so I'll just continue to honor
my pillars and let life unfoldin the magical way that it has
been.
Speaker 2 (55:37):
Oh my gosh, I want to live in your peace.
I love.
Speaker 3 (55:41):
I know right, this is so wonderful talking with you.
Speaker 2 (55:45):
I like I can feel it coming from you as we're having
this conversation, and that'sincredible.
Speaker 1 (55:52):
It took a long time to get here.
Speaker 3 (55:54):
Sure, it sounds like you're on your way and I hope
that sometime in the near futuresomebody says I want to be the
Elizabeth Adams of responsibleAI.
Wouldn't that be cool?
Speaker 1 (56:08):
Yes, yes, we're just going to put that out there.
That's right, we're putting itout there in the universe.
We are, we love it.
Speaker 3 (56:17):
Elizabeth, how can people connect with you?
Speaker 1 (56:21):
Well, there are a few ways.
I have a website, so it'seadamstech.
So it's eadamstech.
I have a website for my oh andon eadamstech, there are a
number of leadership guys aroundresponsible AI, so they're one
pagers that people can look at,download.
(56:42):
They're all free to help themwith understanding some basic
concepts around AI, bias orother leadership principles.
I have the website for thebooks, emabookscom, so there are
downloadable books, twodownloadable books, as well as
(57:02):
the read-alongs and thesing-along, and then, of course,
on LinkedIn.
So I'm appreciative of being aLinkedIn top voice and I hope
that people will follow me there, because my course will be
launching in the next few daysand I want as many people around
the world to spend 30 minuteswith me.
(57:23):
That's it Spend 30 minutes withme learning about some
principles of leadership andresponsible AI.
Speaker 3 (57:30):
Thank you so much, Elizabeth.
It was an absolute pleasurespeaking with you.
Thank you for sharing all thatyou have and for our audience
until next time.
This is Cheryl Cantafio, withmy co-host, Eileen Grimes, and
this is the end of this week'sepisode of you Only Go Once.
(57:51):
Take care everyone.
Bye.
Hi, I'm Elizabeth M Adams.
I hope when you look back atyour life you feel comfortable
following all of your passionsand desires, because you only go
once.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Welcome listeners to another episode of you Only Go
Once.
I am Eileen Grimes and I amhere again with my amazing and
wonderful co-host and friend,cheryl Contafio.
We are here tonight, on thisMonday evening, to have a
(01:00):
wonderfully insightful interviewand I'm so, so excited for the
guests we have on tonight and Iam going to pass it to Cheryl to
introduce Cheryl off to you.
Speaker 3 (01:12):
Thanks, eileen.
Elizabeth M Adams is aresponsible AI influencer,
recognized as one of Forbes 15AI ethics leaders showing the
world the way of the future.
She has studied the science ofbusiness and technology
influences on society for overtwo decades, while leading
large-scale technologyinitiatives for Fortune 500
companies and various governmentorganizations.
(01:34):
As a scholar practitioner,elizabeth has developed her
expertise working with technicaland non-technical leaders,
creating alliances with leadersthat translate theory into
results.
Elizabeth's commitment toinclusivity and ethical tech is
evident in her work, drivingbroader employees' stakeholder
engagement.
Currently pursuing a doctoratein leadership of responsible AI,
(01:57):
elizabeth's research focuses onhow leaders can engage
employees, particularly thoseexposed to AI harm, to introduce
the industry to modernizetechnology development concepts
through a societal lens.
Her goal is to encourageindividuals who have
traditionally been excluded fromthe AI landscape to become
active participants in buildingthe future of AI.
(02:19):
Really awesome stuff, elizabeth.
Welcome.
We're so happy to talk to you.
Speaker 1 (02:26):
Thank you so much.
I bring you both greetings fromSavannah Georgia.
Lovely it's a little chilly,but it's a rainy night.
Yeah, it's my enchanted place.
Speaker 3 (02:39):
I love it here.
That's fantastic.
I'm on the East Coast as well.
Eileen, as you know, is on theWest Coast.
I would love to hear more aboutSavannah Georgia, but first I
would love to know how you evenget started on this, because
this is really heady subjectmatter.
What started your journey onresponsible AI?
Speaker 1 (03:03):
Yeah, well, I didn't just jump into responsible AI.
I have been in the tech space,as you mentioned in the opening,
for over two decades.
My leadership philosophy hasalways been about advocacy,
whether it was advocacy for payequity or gender inclusion,
racial inclusion or just amulti-stakeholder approach.
(03:26):
I didn't use the termmulti-stakeholder then.
It was just like, oh, we haveto get these people involved,
whether it was marketing orfinance or whomever.
That philosophy has carried allof my leadership journey.
But it wasn't until about eightyears ago when I started to see
how these technologiesAI-enabled technologies were
(03:46):
making their way into society,into the marketplace, and they
weren't working for everyone.
I went to just follow mycuriosity.
I started talking to dataengineers and data scientists
about what is this thing calledAI bias.
While I was getting someinitial information, I wasn't
(04:06):
really satisfied.
I didn't really know where togo, but I just started having
these learning events.
In one particular learning eventI was working for an
organization.
Over 70 people showed up.
It was a learning event aroundracial and gender bias in facial
recognition technology.
I knew I was onto somethingwhen that many people showed up.
(04:28):
That was in 2019.
Then I was approached by thechief privacy officer at the
time and general counsel to be apart of a small working group
helping to write the first AIethics principles.
That was when the journeystarted, 2017, 2018.
I wrote a book that I thinkmaybe five people downloaded.
(04:48):
It was called why Black WomenShould Care About Artificial
Intelligence.
It was really just my way tocrystallize my learning.
Basically, that's how it gotstarted.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
Yeah, that's great.
I need to get that book now.
Sorry, right, no, truly, I'msure.
Since 2019, there's only morethat you have continued to learn
along the way when AI is beingused and in all of that, there's
(05:24):
such a broad scope now of theapplications and the possibility
for things going awry.
Speaker 1 (05:32):
Yeah, that is true.
It's still so.
As you mentioned in the opening, I started my doctorate a few
years ago, 2021.
I actually thought by this time, responsible AI would be old
news.
I really did.
I thought that the world wouldhave caught up and we would be
doing all the things and we'd beon to the next thing.
(05:53):
I was really concerned that myresearch would be old but it's
not.
Even just this weekend, when Iwas talking to people about
different types of biases, itwas a group of people that I was
presenting to biases and facialrecognition mentioned that in
healthcare algorithms, in loanalgorithms, who decides what
(06:15):
algorithms decide what groups ofpeople get loans and insurance
rates, and you could go on andon.
Every aspect of our lives.
Basically, I feel like AI is amirror of our human existence.
I realized that people arestill new, like the people I
presented to.
I think I was so over theirhead because I've been doing
(06:35):
this for so long.
I made assumptions that peopleat least understood AI bias.
Speaker 3 (06:42):
Yeah, sure.
Speaker 1 (06:45):
But for someone like me I keep trying to pivot it
feels like, well, I keep tryingto pivot because I really want
to envision a world whereartificial intelligence serves
as a bridge between all of ourbeautiful intricacies in our
human experience.
That's what I want to do.
I want to talk about thepossibilities, because I've
(07:07):
spent so long talking about thechallenges and there are new
people coming into the space andI'm like, yeah, let them do
that.
I want to move more towardswhere my heart really is.
That's where I'm focused now.
Is that pivoting?
Speaker 3 (07:22):
Okay, yeah.
Speaker 1 (07:25):
I know.
Speaker 3 (07:26):
It's a lot.
Speaker 1 (07:27):
It is.
It is it's year after yearafter year, and you're talking
about the same thing.
That's like, how do I find thejoy in this work?
That's one of the reasons why Imoved to Savannah, okay,
because I'm like if I'm going tocontinue in this space, I need
to be able to detach in someplace that's magical and
(07:48):
enchanted and I can do all thistravel to these different sea
islands and I can feel myselfwith beautiful things, so that
when I do sit down every morningto start this work, I know that
at the end of the day, there'ssomething incredible for me
waiting.
That's great.
Speaker 2 (08:09):
So how do you, now that you're working on this
pivot, what does that look like?
What are some of the efforts?
What is?
I know that and again, this isme still learning in the space,
but AI is only as good as thedata that we feed it right and
in a world that doesn't yetexist, necessarily with the data
(08:30):
, how do we inform that?
How do we move forward intothis new paradigm to allow for
that data to really enhance theway we're living, to
collectively help our stories,versus being something that's
completely biased from thehistory of what data has been?
Speaker 1 (08:53):
Yeah, that's a great question.
One thing I'll say is in thisspace of AI, a gazillion things
can be true at the same time.
We can continue to have AIchallenges, ai bias, challenges
in the data, how the data isformed, how it's annotated, how
it's aggregated.
We can continue to have that.
But we can also envision aworld that's a little bit more
(09:16):
beautiful, where we're havingconversations about how we
connect to one another, and forme, that pivot looks like
starting to share those stories.
If I can share all those biasstories for all those years and
people can get attached to themand start working on the things,
then what would happen if Istarted talking about how our
(09:40):
conversations help determine whohas a seat at the table?
The narratives that we warmabout each other can help decide
who we think is who we want towork beside us, right?
So if we start sharing thestories that take it off of the
bias and talk about the humanexperience whether it's AI harm
(10:04):
or good human experience thenmaybe we see people for, like I
said, the beautiful humanitythat we are as opposed to
othering.
So what I have found issometimes, when we talk about
bias, we have to talk about well, why do we have bias and what
groups are impacted, and whenyou talk to people who have
(10:24):
never had the experience ofbeing on the other end of AI
harm.
It feels to me when I'mcommunicating this, that I'm
talking about others and nottheir neighbors, and not people
that they go to church with orwherever they have a religious
practice or whatever they do,both community center or where
they go to send their kids toschool.
(10:44):
It's almost like those peoplethat are over there that are
having the problem and my hopeis to say no, those are your
friends, those are people thatyou like, but just because you
don't have that experiencedoesn't mean that they're not.
So starting to have thoseconversations about how we have
(11:05):
to change the narrative aroundwhat society looks like and
change society, change the viewsaround what innovation looks
like and who can be an innovatorand who can help us create a
world where we can all thriveAll of us are going to need to
do that and we're going to needto put our big boys and girls
(11:28):
clothes on or whatever, and cometo the table and just have
those very, very.
They can be difficult, but, inthe end, awesome conversations,
absolutely.
Speaker 2 (11:40):
And I'm only asking because I want to spark these
conversations.
My full-time job is inconsulting with leaders and
creating cultures of humans, ofactually seeing each other's
humanity.
So on board, totally on boardwith this and completely behind
(12:01):
it with you on all of that.
And if we're not setting thosespaces up, talking about the
technology part of it, I meanit's a whole other layer right
but if we can't even be humantogether, we've got a problem.
Speaker 1 (12:13):
Yeah, we do, and I just for me.
Again, it's helping peoplereimagine where innovation might
occur.
It could occur kitchen table,where someone has their laptop,
someone that you don't even knowyou're not familiar with their
culture, the food they like orwhatever it is, but they're
learning prompt engineeringskills through a community on
(12:34):
Facebook where they're beingtaught and it's a safe space and
that's innovation and they cancertainly partner with those who
have suits on every day, whohave a four-year degree and are
just learning about promptengineering.
Some groups are forced to haveto learn, to upscale and reskill
(12:54):
, so we just have to change theconversation about where
innovation can occur and whatpartnerships in innovation might
look like.
Speaker 3 (13:04):
So what does that look like for you?
Because you've mentioned acouple of things now.
Like people learn in differentways, people are innovative
through different venues.
Right For you.
What was the spark for you?
How did you find yourinnovative spirit?
Speaker 1 (13:22):
Oh, that started as a child.
Yeah, that started as a child.
I was always very interested inhow things worked, but I was
also interested in people.
I could always sense when theenergy was off in the room as an
impact.
I didn't know, I was an impactat the time so I could always
sense that.
So I always had this love formaking sure that people thrived
(13:45):
in whatever environment theywere.
So if they had a little, makingsure that they felt good and
were thriving in that, or ifthey had a lot.
But the other pieces came interms of the mechanical
engineering pieces, where I wasjust always tinkering with
things and putting thingstogether.
And then I had an architectureclass once that I loved and got
(14:06):
to intern at 3M for threesummers building, oh wow.
And so I was like, oh my God,that's amazing.
Yeah, so.
And then I write children'sbooks.
So I have four, but all of themwere a way for me to use my
mind in a different way.
So, as I was writing the booksusing very simple language, I
(14:31):
was solving large problems froma Stanford fellowship that I had
in the city of Minneapolisright after George Floyd's
murder, so working withpolicymakers and community on
joining together, on shareddecision making, and the way to
solve that was to go write verybasic language for children.
It's weird, but that's how mymind works.
(14:54):
It's like I need somethingwhere it's not as taxing, but I
know this thing is over here andso that's what I need.
So for me, I need these spaceswhere I can kind of go and act
as a participant and, I guess, aresearcher, now that I know
that that's what I am and kindof sit and explore and then
(15:16):
tinker with some things myself.
Speaker 2 (15:20):
That's incredible.
Speaker 3 (15:21):
Yeah, that's amazing that you're using but it is you
use like both sides of yourbrain.
We just so.
We just interviewed somebodylast week that has a very
similar like thought.
Right, he's crafted thesechildren's stories to explain
financial principles and the guyis like all into the
(15:44):
spreadsheets and what it can doand the and the possibilities
and the very human stories thatgo with financial stability in
his community.
So I I really love this thatyou do this.
Can you share the?
Have you published the booksLike?
(16:04):
Can you?
Speaker 1 (16:04):
share those because we're happy to talk about those
little.
I am pity they're in online and40 different online stores
around the world.
So to that I have published ourlittle AI and PD, and then
little miss Minnesota and hersix brothers I'm from Minnesota.
About my brothers and I andthen I have them on a website,
(16:25):
EMA bookscom, so I sing alongand read alongs and just, yeah,
some real fun stuff.
So when I go into schools wetypically sing the song called
safe technology and gosh, I lovethis.
Yeah, so that's my, that's myother joy right is just kind of
(16:46):
like okay, you use my mind, Iget to.
Just it's all the emotion, hardwork.
Speaker 3 (16:55):
Love it, love it.
I cannot wait to check out yourwebsite, because I just think
that's phenomenal.
That's so cool, oh my goodness.
So Eileen is also a publishedauthor, and she's Eileen.
Share your.
Share a little bit about yourbook as well.
Go for it.
Speaker 2 (17:13):
Yep, I just said no, I mean one, I'm.
This is like I want to talk toElizabeth now for like I don't
many hours, because the thingsyou're saying I just yeah.
So I also wrote a children'sbook, but it's a.
It's a collaborative parent andchild journal.
So so you're answer, you'reboth answering prompts at the
(17:36):
same time.
Whether you want to do that, Ihave neurodivergent kids and I
am myself, and so being able toexpress yourself in whatever way
, shape or form, whether it'sthrough writing or art or
whatever it was, was reallyimportant for me, and having
that they're setting up the waythat it did.
So anyway.
So you're answering bothanswering prompts, but as a way
to connect with each other andsee each other more fully, and I
(18:02):
just really want, I just wantother humans to feel like they
can be loved and accepted asthey are, without having to
change what that is, and givingparents an opportunity to see
their kids as they are, ratherthan having to feel like they're
molding them into somethingthat they're expecting you know.
So, anyway, yes, I yeah.
Speaker 1 (18:24):
I love that so much.
I just think that that is sobeautiful, the way you just
described it.
I, for most of my life, havefelt that way that I really just
wanted to explore me.
I've never really fit into someof the boxes that people tend
to want to put a technologist in, or black, or someone from
Minnesota, or whatever the boxesthe boxes are.
(18:48):
I really just feel like I'm likea butterfly where I like to
just kind of land and see what'shappening and then you know,
get some learning from thatcontribute and then move on to
kind of like the next thing andpossibly that came from.
So my mother was was killed ina car accident when I was six
years old, so I did not get togrow up with that mother's kind
(19:12):
of guidance.
So I have six brothers excuseme, had six brothers, one past,
and so I've always felt like Iwas this, this journey or if
that makes sense.
Speaker 2 (19:22):
And so as part of that.
Speaker 1 (19:25):
It's where I always try to land.
Wherever I try to land, I tryto find some joy, because that
joy was taken at a very earlyage and I think it's also why I
just have developed this senseof why I want people to thrive
and feel good in life, becausethat at an early age I know what
that feels like.
It's like devastating.
(19:45):
And then just not at an earlyage, but as you get to see other
people connect with theirmothers and you're not even as a
little girl every mother's day.
So all of these things that havebeen a part of my life, that
have felt like some sort of agap I've tried to feel with the
way that feels natural to comeout of me and that's really love
(20:10):
and that's really this heartplace where I really want to see
people thrive.
So in my life now it justhappens to be that responsible
AI is that way that.
I want to experience love, andpart of it was we have to tell
people about all thesechallenges so that we can get it
fixed, so we can experiencelove.
And then I realized I could betalking about this for years, as
(20:33):
I mentioned.
So now I'm like I really wantto just help people think
differently about people who areharmed, and not that there are
others, but that they're.
You know, we all think and feeland have experiences that can
unite us in a great way.
Speaker 2 (20:53):
Yeah, definitely, and what's interesting too, and
tell me if I'm projecting, andthat's totally fine.
I'm just really excited to hearyour story.
It also sounds like you're alsoin that, like it is the
butterfly and it's also.
It's one where you're findingjoy in those places.
It's also one in where you'refinding growth in those places
(21:14):
and when you no longer find thatyou're growing, it's like you
want something to now learn moreof or to expand your
understanding.
So you know you've been doingthis one thing for a while.
It's kind of like okay, and nownow?
How do I grow now?
How do I learn something moreor new or bring a different kind
of component into into this?
Speaker 1 (21:38):
Yeah, Well, I hadn't really considered the growth
part of it, but that could be it.
I think if it were stillinteresting, I would not want to
pivot, and what I mean by thatis if I didn't have to start
from ground zero with a bunch ofpeople several times a year.
(21:58):
Does that make sense.
Speaker 2 (22:00):
And so maybe through your point.
Speaker 1 (22:02):
We could grow together.
But when I have to start, afterI've been doing this for so
long and it feels like I shouldbe oh I don't know how to
explain it feels like I shouldbe on the.
I should be on the 50 yard lineevery time when I start
speaking about it, but manytimes I'm not one yard one and
(22:26):
then I have to sit and listen.
Well, people in this space whohave influence are catching up
and part of my decision is thatI won't do that If that makes
sense.
Not because I can't, butbecause I just don't see myself
there anymore.
I see myself so.
(22:48):
So part of it is this I sawmyself as a true educator,
action oriented person when Ifirst got into this.
Now I'm like no, I'm reallykind of like a thought leader.
Here I have an experience whereI could be guiding people
(23:09):
differently, as opposed tohelping people catch up like
there's enough LinkedIn coursesfor that and shout out I have
one coming up this week.
Okay, but there's enoughcourses for that.
And I've had to make some toughchoices and say it turned down
some engagements because once Ifound out what I was going to be
paid to do, even though it wasgood money, it was like I don't
(23:31):
want that money, I don't wantthat I don't want that
experience that's tied to thatmoney.
Okay, and sometimes I want theexperience that there's not a
lot of money, but it puts me inthe light of how I see myself
now.
Speaker 3 (23:48):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (23:49):
That makes sense because I know we're all over
the place and I'll give you anexample.
I got an invitation to go toLondon recently to participate
with some, some leaders on doingsome activities that excited me
like you wouldn't believe,because my pillars of life are
peace.
First I need peace, I have tohave peace, one of the reasons
(24:10):
why I'm down here in Savannah.
Then I need the vocation thataligns with the piece.
So, it has to be a vocation thatI will speak, but usually when
I speak I'm not doing.
I'm not going to be on stagewith presentation for a whole
hour.
That makes sense.
So it has to be the way thatworks for me.
(24:32):
And then the next pillar ismoney.
Okay.
So peace, vocation, money.
So money is great, but ifthere's no peace, I don't want
it.
Okay.
So I've had those situationswhere people like, oh well, can
you do this and can you do this,or we need to have 10 meetings.
And I'm like, oh yeah, I didn'tsign up for that.
(24:55):
So, yeah, and it's just thatpart of life, I think, as you
get older, where you're likeyeah, I don't know if that's
what I want to do, this is whatI want to do, and you do more of
that.
Speaker 2 (25:08):
Yeah, when did those?
When did you realize those wereyour three pillars?
Speaker 1 (25:14):
And actually the end of last year, as I started
getting invitations for things,and so in the responsible AI
community there's a group ofwomen and we share what each
other's making or what we'vebeen offered.
I love that.
Speaker 3 (25:28):
That's fantastic.
Speaker 1 (25:30):
Yeah, by different conferences, okay.
So I realized that it's at somepoint I was like that's great,
you're getting that, I would dothat one for free.
Speaker 2 (25:41):
Sure.
Speaker 1 (25:43):
But wouldn't help the industry yeah.
Speaker 2 (25:46):
Right.
Speaker 1 (25:47):
I'm taking it for free and someone else is you
know what I'm saying?
Speaker 3 (25:51):
Yes, yes, yeah.
Speaker 1 (25:54):
So that was the challenge for me.
But then I had to, honestly, Ihad to be true to myself and and
I had to have this conversationwith these women and say I
might take something that's forno money, but it doesn't mean
you should, right.
But if it's something I want todo, I'm going to do it, and if
(26:19):
you tell me that they're goingto pay this much, then I'll ask
for it.
But there, but I'm not going tolook at every opportunity that
comes my way through a financiallens.
It has to be through a peacelens, first Peaceful lens, and
then the vocation is this what Iwant my life to be about right
(26:39):
now, in this time and space?
And then the money is a bonus,because I've lost a few things
before, so I know how to liveoff of beans and rice.
Honestly, not that I plan to,but I'm just saying sure, it's
sure.
Speaker 3 (26:56):
I know how to do that .
Yeah, it's really refreshingyour pillars because I think you
know as you enter corporateAmerica it's it almost feels as
though you are conditioned tochase the dollar right.
And it's right.
I think it does come withExperience as you move forward
(27:19):
that the dollar is great if itkeeps you sustained and healthy
and happy and where you want tobe.
But that is not the be all andall.
So you're in Savannah, georgia.
What gives you life in Savannah?
Like what, what what drew youto Savannah Specifically?
Speaker 1 (27:40):
that's such a great question.
So a few years ago, as Imentioned, I was in Minneapolis.
I'm from Minnesota, I've spent25 years in DC and then my
father got sick.
I moved home and it neverreally felt like home after I
had been off and been away andbeen in DC and I felt so
connected there.
Speaker 3 (28:01):
Mm-hmm.
Speaker 1 (28:02):
Um, and I just felt like I was suffocating.
I felt like I was doing really,really phenomenal work and I
was To help with a cityinitiative Excuse me that
eventually resulted in thecommunity and policymakers
deciding that there was acertain AI enabled facial
(28:23):
recognition tool that they didnot want in their in their
community, and they unanimouslyvoted to ban it.
So there's any policy.
So I was like it was really.
It was going really really well.
I Just felt like there wasn'tenough for me To do outside of,
I mean, in beautiful lakes, butno one was really talking about
(28:45):
AI, it's I don't know, it's justsomething about about the area,
and so I started thinking aboutwhere else to go.
It was just kind ofserendipitous.
I had Savannah in the back ofmy mind because I had visited St
Simon's Island a couple duringcold it, and then a friend of
mine visited.
She shared these pictures.
(29:06):
I was like, oh my gosh, it'salmost like Fernwaugh.
Do you know what Fernwaugh is?
It's, I think the German wordis insatiable desire to be
somewhere you haven't beenbefore.
Oh, Okay so it just kind ofleaped in me, and so Then I
started an opportunity with thisorganization and one of the
persons I interviewed with hashad just purchased a home here.
(29:27):
I was like, oh my gosh, pleaseshare your realtor information.
They did.
Two months later I'm down herelooking for a house.
And then I put a Contract on ahouse, had it built and move
last March.
Speaker 2 (29:42):
Wow, my gosh.
Speaker 1 (29:45):
So and I know that I'm in the right place, because
it just every day I wake up andI'm like good morning.
Good morning because I havebehind me an enchanted forest.
It's just and oh Beautiful.
But at night there's all thesecreatures that my camera catches
, but during the day you see thesmet Spanish moss and the way
(30:06):
the sun beams on the trees.
It's just, it's just amazing.
So it just lifts me and Then tobe able to do my doctoral work,
which was from here Again, tobe able to be a good Store it
and honor the stories that havebeen shared with me, this just
feels like that place to do thatWonderful.
(30:30):
I get that I want really hard toget here it.
There really are places for us.
Speaker 2 (30:38):
Yeah, I Feel for me.
I feel at home in the mountains, like that's when I'm in
mountain, that's my like.
I just feel like there arethings that call yeah, and it
feels like Savannah was callingyou.
Speaker 1 (30:53):
Well it, yes, I don't know if this is my final mode,
but it was calling me for thisreason in my life, because I
really wanted a Place where Icould do my interviews for my
research and not feelinterrupted by the noises of the
day or distractions.
I just I don't know.
(31:13):
I just felt like when I wasinterviewing participants for my
study that I was actuallyOutside with a notepad that's
how it felt, notepad takingtheir stories in, because I was
here in Savannah and and I justwas like, oh my god, I'm so
blessed, this is so great to beable to do this, and so now I'm
(31:35):
writing up the findings From allof those stories and, yeah,
this is just the right momentfor me here.
Speaker 3 (31:44):
Fantastic, yeah, fantastic.
I know Eileen says that she's,you know, she's happiest in the
mountains.
I Disappear into books, sothat's kind of my jam.
So you know, I was just sharingwith Eileen A story that I had
read about.
You know all fiction, I loveall fiction and things like that
.
So yeah, yeah it's, it's apeaceful, peaceful thing I'm so
(32:11):
glad that you found a place,though I have a.
I have a friend who istraveling the East Coast at this
point, trying to figure outwhen her place is in the world,
because she's she's had a lot oflet's just say, she's had a lot
of Challenges in 2020,challenges in 2023, and she is
(32:35):
trying to find her place andshe's been talking about the
South quite a bit, reallyexcited, and I don't think she's
coming back to Pennsylvania.
I think she feels like you didin Minnesota, maybe a little bit
stifled.
So I'm I'm wishing her well onthat.
Do you generally like to travelor do you like to be in?
(32:57):
Okay, so, so for the folks thatlistening in the, elizabeth is
shaking her head.
Speaker 1 (33:04):
Yeah, sorry, is there no, that's okay.
Speaker 3 (33:08):
Do you have a dream destination that you'd like to
visit?
Speaker 1 (33:13):
Hmm, I don't know.
I, for whatever reason, stBarts has been this elusive
place for me, because I've beenall over the world, I've had the
fortunate pleasure of travelingto many different countries and
, for whatever reason, I am abig fan of opulence.
Okay, I love.
(33:33):
I tell you like I love opulence, like I could sit in opulence
for my whole life and never,ever Come out of it, and so, and
that's all the things, that'sall.
So I was in Saudi Arabia, letme see, oh, september of 2023
and I'm going there in a coupleweeks, and that experience was
(33:54):
like, totally opulent for me.
Speaker 2 (33:59):
No so.
Speaker 1 (34:00):
I don't know.
I just picked these kind ofopulent places in my mind to go
to and then I'll go and create avision board of all the things
that I that I like about them,but I can't say that there's one
one place.
I would go anywhere wherethere's opulence.
So I was in Charleston, southCarolina, last weekend for my
birthday and it was a reallygood experience my birthday and
it was my first time spendingtime there.
(34:21):
Had been to go to a museum lastyear but I didn't get a chance
to move around the city andfriend flew in, we went, we
drove over, it's like under twohours and I was like this is
like the Beverly Hills of thesouth and I used to live in
Beverly Hills.
Okay, I decided just to giveyou an idea.
(34:42):
One time I was was done withMinnesota and put all my things
up for sale and moved to BeverlyHills for a year.
Wow, explore this sense ofperceived opulence like I didn't
know again it was an armoire,to sensational desire to be
somewhere you've never been.
And that's what I felt aboutCharleston.
(35:04):
I felt like it was the BeverlyHills of the south.
I was like, oh my gosh, theselook at the all these little
stores Top into.
It was fabulous, not a greattime.
Speaker 3 (35:14):
That's terrific, and happy birthday, thank you.
Oh now, are you a person thathas that celebrates a birthday
month, or are you a person thatjust celebrates the day?
Because I have friends that arelike it's my birthday month.
Like what are we doing?
So what does that like?
What does what does yourcelebration of, of your life
(35:38):
look like?
Speaker 1 (35:39):
This year was just a day, okay, but in the past I've
done like several years ago Iworked for an airline service
organization and I could fly forfree.
So that particular year I did Idon't know I attempted to do a
number of cities.
I got up to 50.
Wow.
(36:02):
So as long as I hit the zipcode, that's how I was, that's
how I didn't have to be anovernight stay.
So, yeah, just really reallydepends.
I would like to celebrate allyear just the good things and
just have a nice Wyatt birthdaydinner or something like that on
(36:22):
a yacht.
again, we're talking opulencewith love it Okay, but but I
would really like to justcelebrate all year.
Speaker 3 (36:31):
That's great.
It is awesome.
So getting back to AI for alittle bit.
Speaker 1 (36:39):
Absolutely.
Speaker 3 (36:39):
You know I lean and I are big fans of celebrating
women and STEM, women andscience, women and technology
All the different technologiesthat are out there.
Yesterday was the InternationalWomen and Girls Day in Science.
If there was any advice for thenext generation that you had,
(37:07):
if they're interested intechnology, responsible AI,
anything that's that's coming up, what would your advice be to
them?
Speaker 1 (37:20):
I would say that to play with as many AI tools as
you can, or tech tools, orwhatever it is, and then,
wherever your curiosity takesyou or your passion, go there.
Start there, I would say,because no one ever gave me that
advice and I was all over theplace and took me years to
(37:42):
really figure out what I liked,and I kept other people kept
telling me that what I likedwasn't normal but I knew what I
liked.
And so had I been groomed, orguided, I should say, into a
path of passion, I think my lifewould be very different.
It would still be in technology, but I think I wouldn't have
(38:05):
had to work so hard for so manyyears to advocate for myself.
Because I think some again,because we need to appreciate
that innovation is going to lookdifferently.
So it would be play with asmany tools as you like.
If you like PowerPoint, playwith as many AI PowerPoint type
(38:25):
tools, I shouldn't sayPowerPoint presentation type
tools.
If you like mechanics, playwith as many AI tools that can
help you think about doing beinga mechanic differently,
whatever it is, and see wherethat curiosity takes you.
If it takes you down a path ofpassion.
That would be my suggestion.
Speaker 2 (38:47):
I love that and I also I was doing some RPA work a
little while ago, and one ofthe things that I loved about
that was the group that we hadwas not just with the bunch of
20 year olds, it was also withpeople who were later in their
careers.
And you know, to me, there's nowrong time to start either,
(39:10):
right, it's not something thatyou are finding interest in or
pull towards right, there's notoo late for this stuff either,
and I just I think that's reallygreat and there are accessible
ways to find that.
Yeah, I just that's one of thethings we like to encourage here
on the you Only Go Once podcast, right, where it's like so what
(39:31):
if you're, you know, 70 yearsold and you want to do something
different?
Go for it, right.
So I just that's been anamazing thing about the AI side
of things, too.
I've seen a lot of people diveinto it, at whatever age.
Speaker 1 (39:46):
Yeah, I just.
That is my philosophy, so I'lltell you a quick story.
In December, I happened upon aFacebook group that was called
it's, where you share AI prompts.
Now, I have been focused on mydoctorate work that I didn't
really get into a lot ofgenerative AI, I didn't have
(40:07):
time to take anothercertification, I didn't have
time to do a whole lot ofreading of other books because I
had all these articlesassociated with my research.
But again, because you guysknow, based on what I said, I
like to have this other part ofmy brain where it's kind of like
mindless, where I'm justexploring, and so in this
community I can't help but to bea researcher.
(40:27):
I was just shocked at how manypeople were trying prompt
engineering for the first timeand just getting so tickled by
these images or things that theywere creating and without even
realizing the skills thatthey're building.
But the fact that it was a safespace to make mistakes, it was
(40:49):
a safe space to ask questions,and that's what I just really
think that no matter what yourage is, to find these
communities where you can learn.
I'm also in another one for mydoctorate program and there are
several people in there who justkind of sit and observe and
then every once in a whileyou'll see a post where
(41:10):
someone's like oh, I just gotaccepted to this doctorate
program, thank you.
I've been here for five yearswatching you all taking it in,
and I'm right, and I just thinkthat sometimes you just need a
place where you can kind of justgo at your own pace and see
what others are doing, feelcomfortable to ask questions and
(41:31):
then, when it's your time tocome out the gate or whatever it
is, there you go and not toforce people into a timeline or
box or a type of study Like justgo where your heart leads you,
because at the end of the day,your heart knows what work
(41:54):
you're supposed to do and youcan feel it in every part of
your body.
You light up when you are doingwork that just excites you and
so.
But part of that means you haveto have a safe space to explore
, to kind of test out some ofthese things that you think.
Like when I first started mydoctorate, I wanted to take my
(42:17):
dissertation and have it be amovie, short or a book.
So three years ago I don't havethat desire anymore.
I've played around with somethings and it's not on my on the
top of my list anymore Ifsomeone comes, maybe.
But I pursued some differentavenues and I'm like, yeah,
that's not anymore and so.
(42:39):
But I've had an opportunity tobe in some safe spaces where I
could explore some other things,if that makes sense.
If I would have cut those otherthings off because my mind was
just set on this one thing, andif that were the thing for me,
my mind would be set on that.
Do you know what I mean?
If that was exactly the road Iwas supposed to take, then my
(43:00):
mind would be set on that, butthe fact that it's not there
anymore.
It's still a hope, but it's notnecessarily any.
There's no action behind it.
So these safe spaces areimportant to be able to explore
what we want out of life.
Speaker 3 (43:15):
Sure.
Speaker 2 (43:17):
Definitely.
What you said, just, I don'tknow, hit me real really deeply.
Just the knowingness in yourheart about we know, we know
where we're meant to be, whatwe're meant to be doing when
we're in those spaces, right,when you find those and I, you
(43:38):
know, I found things like that,like with people too.
I mean, the fact that Cheryland I get to do this podcast is
one of those heart-knowingspaces for me, right, yes, you
know, how do you?
What does that feel like foryou when you were in that heart
space?
What is that knowingness foryou?
(43:59):
Or maybe, what is it when it'snot Like, how do you get to the
point to say, hmm, yeah, I'm notthere right now?
I need to relook at this orstart thinking differently.
Speaker 1 (44:13):
Yeah.
So again, I think it goes backto the pillars, which is it
would be peaceful.
Right Is the way that someoneapproached me.
Is there energy?
Is this thing?
Does it put me at ease?
Because if I'm at ease, then Ican be my full self and whatever
my full self is for thatparticular moment.
(44:36):
But it has to start with peacefor me and then I go from there.
So and I'll give you an exampleof some things that don't feel
peaceful, I had mentioned that Idid this presentation last.
I mentioned, I had to do apresentation and and that I
thought I was speaking thisbeautiful life into the room.
(45:00):
I really did it Like it was onme, but it wasn't received that
way, it wasn't celebrated thatway.
Not that there was anythingwrong with the people.
They were looking for somethingelse.
Does that make sense?
So then I get a call fromanother group of people and
(45:22):
they're telling me how they wantme to do the presentation and
tears almost welled up in mywelled it up in my eyes because
I'm like that's what I want todo.
I want to talk about howtechnology or AI can act as a
way to help harmonize technologyand humanity.
When they said it and this ishow they were talking about it
(45:44):
we would really like you to dosomething that kind of brings us
along gently.
And what that was so warmingfor me Versus this other
conversation, which is peopleneed to know X, y and Z, was
almost like they were trying toforce me into a conversation to
(46:07):
help them grow.
I get that.
And does that make sense?
So, yes, the different ways.
Now some other people might say, oh yeah, I'm on that the other
way or this other way that Ilike.
They might say, oh, that's toosoft, how can leaders?
That's not how leaders lead.
But when I was done with thatpresentation, I just my whole
(46:31):
body was just full ofunadulterated joy Because I knew
that what I put out into theuniverse was received.
It was from the purest part ofme and the people were able to
receive it from that purestplace, versus some fake version
(46:54):
of me, because I've alreadyentered into some contracts and
I didn't really ask the rightquestions and so now I've got to
perform for you.
Speaker 3 (47:02):
Mm, hmm, mm, hmm, and that's the sense.
Yeah, yeah, there's a mix ofvulnerability and authenticity
in that, for sure.
And then it's just the wholebravery of will people get this
and I love that you got somebodywho made the connection and
they're like help, help us alongthe way, like come and share
(47:24):
your story with us so that wecan help others connect with
this, like that's a, that's abeautiful thing when that
happens.
Like that's good.
Kismet is what that is.
That's a.
That's a wonderful space.
Yeah, and after that I just said, I want more of this, Like I
just want more of this becauseit was so peaceful, and so there
(47:45):
was the piece, the vocation,and they paid me really really
well.
Hey right.
Speaker 1 (47:54):
And then there's yep, had me really, really well to
come and be gentle with it andto talk about a world, that
where we envision, where all ofus are successful with AI.
And it was the first time Ididn't use a professional type
presentation and had all theseZen colors and greens and you
(48:17):
know what I mean.
Speaker 2 (48:18):
Like it's just different.
Speaker 1 (48:21):
And then I but this thing I've always said is that I
wanted to be like the BrenéBrown of AI, where I really
wanted a platform where we talkabout empathy and vulnerability
and just really finding yourpassion and being okay with that
, no matter what others wouldsay, and talking about what that
(48:41):
looks like.
Because I've had to do thatwith family and friends and
colleagues, I've had to say no,that doesn't work for me, at the
risk of people who don'tnormally do that it can become.
It can feel as if I'm offensiveto them Because they're not
used to people advocating forthemselves to continue in a
(49:06):
light and so.
But I've had to learn how todeal with that as well.
Speaker 3 (49:11):
Sure.
Speaker 2 (49:12):
Yeah, yeah, oh, my gosh and such.
It's so well, whether or notyou believe in the universal
laws of abundance or whatever itis right, but there are doors
that open for us, that are meantfor us, and then those keep
coming.
When we acknowledge that, likethis yes, this is what I want,
(49:33):
keep it coming.
Like these are the engagementsthat I want to be a part of,
these are the people, those arethe parts that I'm meant to
speak to and these are thevoices that are meant to, or
this is who is meant to hear myvoice, and I just think I don't
know.
That was really helpful to knowthat not everyone is for me and
(49:54):
I'm not for everyone either,and the right ones will come to
me.
Speaker 1 (50:01):
Yeah, I think it takes enough experiences to your
point where you were, Excuse me, where you ask yourself well
that didn't feel rightafterwards.
You've done like 50 of these.
That don't feel right.
Speaker 2 (50:17):
Is this what?
Speaker 1 (50:18):
you want, right?
So how are we going to changeit?
So then I started sharing.
So this is one of the things Idid.
So I did I used to speak for anhour and then I changed and say
I'm only going to speak for 20minutes and then I'll do Q&A.
I'll do 30 minutes and then Q&A.
So that was a little better forme because I really wanted to
(50:39):
engage.
Then that time less and less.
So now I'm asking for the sameamount of money, but I'm doing
it for I'm talking for 15minutes because I really want to
engage.
Speaker 2 (50:52):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (50:52):
I want to know what are the things that are
interesting to the people sothat I can have that
conversation with them.
So it's shared learning.
But it took me a while to getthere and say you really prepped
like eight hours for that andit wasn't peaceful, it wasn't
what you wanted to do and youdidn't make as much money as you
(51:13):
thought you need because youspent all this time preparing.
So just thinking about all ofthat.
Speaker 3 (51:21):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (51:24):
It's so helpful.
It takes a while to get.
It takes a while to like be inthose shoes and to learn that
right, Like data input, yeah,and we're learning that from
that as we go along and as longas we're self-reflective and
take those moments to look backand think is that the right data
(51:47):
that I want?
Is it?
Does this actually make sensefor me moving forward?
It takes time to pause and thatcan be hard too.
Speaker 1 (51:57):
It can be hard because we all have to eat and
we all have bills to pay.
Speaker 3 (52:02):
Yes, right.
Speaker 1 (52:05):
And so sitting there and so I think honestly where I
am in life is I have this 100%posture of trust.
That's taking, taking years.
So, for instance, I may notknow where the next six
presentations will come from,but I know that they'll come.
So, taking that worry out ofthe equation, because I've spent
(52:32):
so much time in reflection andhonoring my intuition that I
know I'm being guided where I'msupposed to be guided, and that
looks very weird for my familyand friends, I bet.
They want to know what is?
Your plan.
Speaker 2 (52:51):
I mean other than the doctorate.
Speaker 1 (52:54):
I don't really have a plan until after the doctorate.
Then I can say oh yeah, I wantto, I want to hang on on the
beach and be next to a Tiki bar,but right now I have to finish
the doctorate.
So that is my, my plan, and mywish in prayer had always been
that I could honor thisdoctorate and really take in
(53:14):
these stories that people wouldtell me and then do the writing,
and not be forced into someoneelse's program for 40 hours a
week and not be able to honorthese, these stories, if that
makes sense.
And so, and that has come true,so I'm able to honor the
stories and, lo and behold,someone pings me through the, my
(53:36):
website or something like that,or someone contacts me and I'm
like okay, thank you.
Speaker 2 (53:42):
That's great, amazing , yeah, and now that, because
we're already hit, we're hittingup at the hour, so one of our
last questions is literallywhat's on your?
This is happening, so this ishappening for us.
Is this like call to what'snext?
This, you know, feeling like wedon't want to leave any cards
(54:03):
on the table, and it seems likeyou're just open to that.
The next thing is finishing thedissertation, right, and then
honoring that, and I think thatthat, in and of itself, I mean
that answers the question right.
That is what's incredible, andthat you're open to see where
that goes at the completion ofthat too.
Speaker 1 (54:24):
I am, but I am living a life where I'm open to the
experiences that show up and Iget courage every day when I can
say yes or no, because, again,I have found these pillars that
work for me.
And so what's next is honoringthose pillars in every decision
(54:46):
that I make, which I know willlead me to ultimately where I'm
supposed to be always.
Speaker 2 (54:56):
Sounds like a next book really to me, it really
does, it really does.
Speaker 1 (55:01):
Well, I'm waiting for the perfect.
So I what I don't want to do isself publish.
So I just believe that somebodyelse figure some big money for
me and that's what I'll wait for.
I won't.
I won't self publish.
So so not saying there'sanything wrong with that.
I know my, I know my path, ifthat makes sense, because self
(55:21):
publishing, I did that with four, two books.
It wasn't peaceful, it wasgreat, but it wasn't peaceful.
And so now that I know, yeah,so I'll just continue to honor
my pillars and let life unfoldin the magical way that it has
been.
Speaker 2 (55:37):
Oh my gosh, I want to live in your peace.
I love.
Speaker 3 (55:41):
I know right, this is so wonderful talking with you.
Speaker 2 (55:45):
I like I can feel it coming from you as we're having
this conversation, and that'sincredible.
Speaker 1 (55:52):
It took a long time to get here.
Speaker 3 (55:54):
Sure, it sounds like you're on your way and I hope
that sometime in the near futuresomebody says I want to be the
Elizabeth Adams of responsibleAI.
Wouldn't that be cool?
Speaker 1 (56:08):
Yes, yes, we're just going to put that out there.
That's right, we're putting itout there in the universe.
We are, we love it.
Speaker 3 (56:17):
Elizabeth, how can people connect with you?
Speaker 1 (56:21):
Well, there are a few ways.
I have a website, so it'seadamstech.
So it's eadamstech.
I have a website for my oh andon eadamstech, there are a
number of leadership guys aroundresponsible AI, so they're one
pagers that people can look at,download.
(56:42):
They're all free to help themwith understanding some basic
concepts around AI, bias orother leadership principles.
I have the website for thebooks, emabookscom, so there are
downloadable books, twodownloadable books, as well as
(57:02):
the read-alongs and thesing-along, and then, of course,
on LinkedIn.
So I'm appreciative of being aLinkedIn top voice and I hope
that people will follow me there, because my course will be
launching in the next few daysand I want as many people around
the world to spend 30 minuteswith me.
(57:23):
That's it Spend 30 minutes withme learning about some
principles of leadership andresponsible AI.
Speaker 3 (57:30):
Thank you so much, Elizabeth.
It was an absolute pleasurespeaking with you.
Thank you for sharing all thatyou have and for our audience
until next time.
This is Cheryl Cantafio, withmy co-host, Eileen Grimes, and
this is the end of this week'sepisode of you Only Go Once.
(57:51):
Take care everyone.
Bye.
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