2020s ONE BIG IDEA

Bring diversity to artificial intelligence

BY FEI-FEI LI

Artificial intelligence is the quest to build machines with human-like intellectual capabilities. But in an industry known for its struggles with representation, how can we ensure they’re inspired by the full range of human experience? Women make up only 12% of the AI research world and 26% of the tech workforce, while people of color fill less than 20% of leadership roles.

My nonprofit, AI4ALL, is working to reverse this trend by bringing first-hand experience in university AI labs to students of high school age who often feel left out of tech: girls, ethnic minorities and residents of underserved communities. AI is a vast frontier with far more to explore than any single person, group or even nation can manage alone. It will rank among our greatest technological achievements, and everyone deserves to play a role in shaping it. That, more than anything else, will ensure the world of 2030 is a future worth looking forward to.

Li is co-director of Stanford University’s Human-Centered AI Institute

Make digital cash safer for all

BY CHRISTINE LAGARDE

We should consider the possibility for central banks to issue their own digital currencies. A state-backed token, or perhaps an account held directly at the central bank, could help ensure that remote and marginalized regions are included in the digital