Women In AI: Irene Solaiman, Head of Global Policy at Hugging Face

To give AI-focused women academics and other deserving individuals their well-deserved spotlight, TechCrunch is launching a series of interviews highlighting remarkable women who have made significant contributions to the AI revolution. Throughout the year, we will publish several pieces, shedding light on key work that often goes unrecognized. Read more profiles here.

Irene Solaiman embarked on her AI journey as a researcher and public policy manager at OpenAI, where she spearheaded a novel approach to the release of GPT-2, a precursor to ChatGPT. Following her tenure as an AI policy manager at Zillow for nearly a year, she assumed the role of head of global policy at Hugging Face. In her current capacity, Solaiman oversees the development and implementation of company-wide AI policies and conducts socio-technical research.

Furthermore, Solaiman provides guidance to the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), the professional association for electronics engineering, on AI-related matters. Additionally, she serves as a recognized AI expert at the intergovernmental Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

The best approach to responsibly building AI involves prioritizing the involvement of those affected by AI systems and continuously reassessing our methods for assessing and implementing safety measures. Both the beneficial applications and potential harms of AI constantly evolve, necessitating iterative feedback loops. It’s essential for the AI community to collectively examine and refine the means by which we enhance AI safety.

In terms of technical evaluations, the most popular methods in 2024 are considerably more robust than those employed in 2019. While human evaluations remain highly valuable, there’s growing recognition of the mental burden and disparate costs associated with human feedback. Consequently, there’s an increasing emphasis on standardizing evaluations to ensure consistency and effectiveness.

Investors play a crucial role in pushing for responsible AI practices. Many investors and venture capital firms are already actively engaging in safety and policy discussions, often through initiatives such as open letters and Congressional testimonies. It’s important to continue leveraging their expertise to understand what drives success for small businesses across various sectors, particularly as AI adoption expands beyond traditional tech industries. By collaborating with investors, we can foster a climate that encourages responsible AI development and deployment.