Interactive learning

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This resource is best viewed on a desktop computer or tablet. Although it can be viewed on a smartphone, the interface may appear cluttered.

Women in AI

A journey through time and innovation

This interactive educational resource shows how women have shaped the development of AI from Ada Lovelace's pioneering algorithms and visionary thinking in the 1840s, through generations of mathematicians, coders, and ethics leaders who pushed boundaries in computing, programming, robotics, fairness research, and modern AI governance. Their foundational work includes creating the first computer programs, enabling major breakthroughs in computing, advancing the science of machine learning, and leading efforts to make AI systems more ethical, transparent, and inclusive. Despite historical under-recognition, women such as Ada Lovelace, Grace Hopper, Margaret Hamilton, Fei-Fei Li, Joy Buolamwini, and Joelle Pineau have been crucial to developing AI’s capabilities and ensuring its positive impact on society

Description of "Women in AI"

This interactive timeline showcases the significant contributions of various women to AI, computing, and related fields across nearly two centuries.

The timeline women leaders in the day starting with Mary Somerville in the late 18th century and extends to contemporary leaders shaping ethical AI rules. It emphasises that despite their often-overlooked work, women have been vital creators, including mathematicians, coders, thinkers, ethics specialists, and forward-thinkers.

Key individuals and their contributions featured in the timeline include:

• Mary Somerville (1780-1872): A mathematician and science writer who made complex scientific ideas accessible and influenced Ada Lovelace's education.

• Mary Shelley (1810-1850): Author of "Frankenstein," considered the first science fiction novel, exploring scientific ethics and creators' moral duties.

• Ada Lovelace (1815-1852): A mathematician and writer who created the first algorithm for Babbage's Analytical Engine, recognized as the first computer programmer.

• Rózsa Péter (1905-1977): A Hungarian mathematician who made vital contributions to recursive function theory, essential for computer science development.

• Grace Hopper (1906-1992): A computer scientist and naval officer who created the first compiler and championed COBOL, coining the term 'debugging'.

• Mary Kenneth Keller (1913-1985): The first woman to earn a PhD in computer science in the US, she contributed to BASIC development and computer science education.

• Katherine Johnson (1918-2020): A groundbreaking mathematician at NASA whose calculations were essential for America's Space Race missions, including John Glenn's orbital flight and the Apollo program.

• Evelyn Boyd Granville (1924-2023): The second African-American woman to earn a PhD in mathematics, she developed computer programs for trajectory analysis for NASA's Apollo missions.

• Jean Sammet (1928-2017): A key figure in programming language development, known for creating FORMAC and contributing to COBOL.

• Annie Jean Easley (1933-2011): A computer scientist at NASA who developed essential software for space launch vehicles and advocated for diversity in STEM.

• Karen Spärck Jones (1935-2007): A British computer scientist whose work on inverse document frequency (IDF) fundamentally changed information retrieval and modern search engines.

• Margaret Boden (1936-present): A leading figure in AI, known for her contributions to cognitive science and AI creativity research.

• Donna Haraway (1944-present): An American scholar, feminist, and cultural theorist, known for "A Cyborg Manifesto" and critical examinations of human-technology relationships.

• Sherry Turkle (1948-present): An academic and researcher examining the complex relationships between humans and technology, particularly how digital technologies reshape human connections.

• Lucy Suchman (1949-present): An anthropologist specializing in human-technology interactions, known for her critique of AI planning models and "Plans and Situated Actions."

• Shoshana Zuboff (1951-present): A scholar and professor known for "The Age of Surveillance Capitalism," analyzing how tech companies commodify personal data.

• Nonny de la Peña (1957-present): Often called the "Godmother of Virtual Reality," she transformed storytelling by combining journalism with VR technology.

• Cynthia Dwork (1958-present): A computer scientist known for her contributions to privacy and cryptography, particularly differential privacy.

• Lisa Nakamura (1963-present): A leading scholar in digital media studies, focusing on race, gender, and identity in online spaces.

• Martha Wells (1964-present): An American author known for her "Murderbot Diaries" series, exploring consciousness, free will, and AI from an artificial being's perspective.

• Maja Matarić (1965-present): A roboticist and computer scientist known for her work in socially assistive robotics, particularly for educational and healthcare settings.

• Rose Luckin (1966-present): A researcher specializing in AI in educational settings, developing personalized learning technologies.

• Latanya Sweeney (1966-present): A computer scientist and privacy scholar who influenced data protection and algorithmic fairness, introducing k-anonymity.

• Cynthia Breazeal (1967-present): A leading figure in social robotics, known for creating robots that interact with humans and for her work at MIT's Media Lab.

• Cordelia Schmid (1967-present): A key figure in computer vision, known for her contributions to visual recognition systems and algorithms for object recognition.

• Daphne Koller (1968-present): A renowned computer scientist and entrepreneur known for her work in AI and machine learning, and co-founding Coursera.

• Nuria Oliver (1970-present): A computer scientist specializing in AI for global development and healthcare, particularly in pandemic response systems.

• Regina Barzilay (1970-present): A prominent figure in natural language processing (NLP) applying machine learning to healthcare, especially for cancer detection.

• Ayanna Howard (1972-present): A roboticist and educator contributing to AI and robotics, focusing on assistive technologies for children with disabilities.

• Safiya Noble (1972-present): A scholar and cultural critic known for "Algorithms of Oppression," examining how search engines reinforce racism.

• Virginia Eubanks (1972-present): A scholar and author whose work examines the intersection of technology and social inequality, notably "Automating Inequality."

• Cathy O'Neil (1972-present): A mathematician and data scientist, author of "Weapons of Math Destruction," critically examining algorithmic bias.

• Nnedi Okorafor (1974-present): An author known for pioneering the African futurism literary movement, blending science fiction with African cultures.

• Fei-Fei Li (1976-present): A computer scientist and AI researcher, creator of ImageNet, and advocate for human-centered AI.

• Kate Crawford (1976-present): A leading researcher in AI ethics and policy, co-founded the AI Now Institute.

• Ruha Benjamin (1978-present): A scholar and sociologist examining technology, innovation, and social inequality, known for the "New Jim Code" concept.

• Rana el Kaliouby (1978-present): An Egyptian-American computer scientist and entrepreneur, pioneer of emotion recognition technology, and co-founder of Affectiva.

• Kashmir Hill (1981-present): An American journalist specializing in the intersection of technology and privacy, known for investigative reporting on privacy vulnerabilities.