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VIDEO: Ethical Consideration for the Future of A.I. (February 26, 2017)

 

IPN Technology SIG : Ethical Consideration for the Future of A.I. – Nabeel Gillani
Webinar was held on Sunday, February 26, 2017

Program Overview

Advancements in Artificial Intelligence have tremendous potential to support advancements in Science and Medicine. However, there is a need to understand the implications and mitigating factors for overcoming ethical & other associated challenges arising from such advancements. Nabeel Gillani (Spotlight), former Rhode Scholar and a graduate student and researcher in the Lab for Social Machines at the MIT Media Lab, spoke about “filter bubbles” on social media, mitigating discrimination in machine learning and AI implications on the future workforce, in the webinar held on February 26, 2017.

Speaker Profile

Nabeel is a graduate student and researcher in the Lab for Social Machines at the MIT Media Lab. His research combines data science, machine learning, and sociology to build tools that promote the positive use of artificial intelligence and social platforms for society. Previously, Nabeel was a Product Manager at Khan Academy, where he helped design and implement online technologies for students and educators around the world. He is also a co-founder of Coursolve.org, a digital experiential learning platform that helps lifelong learners from over 100 countries revamp their workplace-relevant skills by working with companies to solve real-world problems. Nabeel graduated with a ScB in Applied Mathematics and Computer Science from Brown University, and Master’s degrees in Education and Machine Learning from the University of Oxford, where he was a Rhodes Scholar.

The presenter(s) have granted permission for use of this content for IPN members only.  Please do not share this content outside of IPN without requesting permission from the presenter(s).

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Spotlight

Nabeel Gillani

IPN Spotlight: Nabeel Gillani (Former Rhode Scholar and Graduate Student & Researcher for Social Machines, MIT Media Lab)

Nabeel is a graduate student and researcher in the Lab for Social Machines at the MIT Media Lab. His research combines data science, machine learning, and psychology to build tools that promote the positive use of artificial intelligence and social platforms for society. Previously, Nabeel was a Product Analyst and Product Manager at Khan Academy, where he helped design and implement online technologies for students and educators around the world. He was also co-founder of Coursolve.org, a digital experiential learning platform that helped lifelong learners from over 100 countries revamp their workplace-relevant skills by working with companies to solve real-world problems.

Nabeel graduated with an ScB in Applied Mathematics and Computer Science from Brown University, and Master’s degrees in Education and Machine Learning from the University of Oxford, where he was a Rhodes Scholar.

What skills have helped you in your career?
• Contextualizing learning in terms of a goal and problem area (e.g. “learning how to program in Javascript in order to build an education technology website”)
•Believing there are many possible paths to a given outcome, and everyone on a team has something uniquely valuable to contribute
• Trying to ask “why”

What do you wish you had known or done differently throughout your career?
Rumi has said “patience is the key to joy”. Hazrat Ali (AS) has said “no power is like forbearance”. I wish I had been more patient early on in my life, and hope to be more (hungrily) patient moving forward.

What is next for you in your career?
I hope to Inshallah continue research at the Media Lab, diving deeper into understanding and computationally modeling human networks and cognition applied to problems in education and media & journalism.

What do you do for continuing education and improvement?
I try to read books and academic papers. I also try to listen to podcasts. Alhamdulillah, I’m fortunate to have an opportunity to attend classes taught by professors who are world experts in their fields.

What advice would you offer to others?
Read, re-read, re-read, re-read, and reflect on Hazar Imam’s speeches and Farmans. As you already know, there’s an eternity of wisdom and inspiration in them, with layers to continuously be unpacked and explored as we move through our careers and lives.

Areas where you can help other Ismailis:
• College / university applications (undergrad and grad)
• General advice on data science / machine learning / computer programming, particularly as they’re applied to social networks
• Advice on building / scaling education technology platforms
• Rudimentary support with growth marketing tips / techniques (in particular, online A/B testing)
• Sometimes I like to act like I know about statistics, so can try to provide support there too

If you would like to nominate someone to be a part of the spotlight, click Here.

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Event

IPN Technology SIG : Webinar on Friday, February 26th 2017 – Ethical Consideration for the Future of A.I.

Advancements in Artificial Intelligence have tremendous potential to support advancements in Science and Medicine. However, there is a need to understand the implications and mitigating factors for overcoming ethical & other associated challenges arising from such advancements. Join Nabeel Gillani, former Rhode Scholar and a graduate student and researcher in the Lab for Social Machines at the MIT Media Lab, on February 26th at 3pm EST to learn about “filter bubbles” on social media, mitigating discrimination in machine learning and AI implications on the future workforce.

Nabeel Gillani

Nabeel is a graduate student and researcher in the Lab for Social Machines at the MIT Media Lab. His research combines data science, machine learning, and sociology to build tools that promote the positive use of artificial intelligence and social platforms for society. Previously, Nabeel was a Product Manager at Khan Academy, where he helped design and implement online technologies for students and educators around the world. He is also a co-founder of Coursolve.org, a digital experiential learning platform that helps lifelong learners from over 100 countries revamp their workplace-relevant skills by working with companies to solve real-world problems.

Nabeel graduated with a ScB in Applied Mathematics and Computer Science from Brown University, and Master’s degrees in Education and Machine Learning from the University of Oxford, where he was a Rhodes Scholar.

Register for the webinar Here!

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Event

IPN Facebook Live Broadcast : Thursday, December 15th 2016 – Shama Hyder

 

Join IPN for the first Facebook Live AMA (Ask Me Anything) with special guest Shama Hyder!

Date: Thursday, December 15th
Time: 6 PM CST

Learn about Shama’s entrepreneurial journey and how to build a brand, plus chat directly and ask your own questions, LIVE! Simply follow the steps below to get notified as the presentation starts, then watch live directly on the Facebook page.

Shama Hyder is the founder and CEO of the award-winning agency, The Marketing Zen Group, an integrated web marketing and digital PR firm. She is a highly acclaimed international keynote speaker and a regular media correspondent, often featured across all major media channels, including MSNBC, Fox Business, Forbes, Inc. and The Wall Street Journal. She is also the best-selling author of The Zen of Social Media Marketing (4th Edition) and Momentum: How to Propel Your Marketing and Transform Your Brand in the Digital Age

How to participate:

  1. Click here to visit the IPN Facebook page
  2. Scroll down to the section titled “Posts”
  3. Click on “Get Reminder”, which will provide you a reminder a few minutes before the broadcast begins on Thursday at 6pm CST
  4. On Thursday at 6pm CST, visit the IPN page where the broadcast will be live.  You can ask questions directly in the chat!
Categories
Spotlight

Munawar Lakdawala

IPN Spotlight: Munawar Lakdawala (Partner, PwC Digital Solutions Implementation Practice)

Munawar is a Partner in PwC’s Technology Solutions Practice focused on Digital Solutions. In his role, Munawar is responsible for leading Enterprise Mobility strategic initiatives for the firm’s key clients. He has established professional credibility in the areas of Enterprise Architecture, Digital Strategy and Application development & integration.

Munawar possesses entrepreneurial spirit and is passionate about finding innovative, sustainable solutions that improve business outcomes, enhances productivity and deliver value to business and its stakeholders. He is a change agent with proven, strong project & people management skills, proficient in managing widely-divergent, simultaneously occurring projects.

What skills have helped you in your career?
Knowledge and skills always remain with us and the more the merier, we only master them as we keep using the knowledge and apply our skills on the job. One skill that I can really talk about is ability to be technical, be it in software development, data analytics or even understanding what it means to run the financials. It allows me to be hands on in my work and gives me the confidence that I and my team is doing the right thing.

What do you wish you had known or done differently throughout your career?
A lot of things could have been done differently but I always look at them as opportunity for myself to learn and improvise. I cannot go back and change anything but I can learn from what I have done and make sure I do it better the next time.

What is next for you in your career?
Spread my wings and grow. Technology is changing at a very fast pace and there are lot of opportunities.

What do you do for continuing education and improvement?
Read, read and read. We live in the world where we have access to lot of information and opportunity for continuing our education from the convenience of our living rooms and I make sure i spend time over the weekend to do that.

What advice would you offer to others?
Don’t be afraid to make mistakes and fail. Fail fast and learn from your failures that is the only way you will know if ever you can be successful. Just sitting at the edge and worrying will not make you successful.

Areas where you can help other Ismailis:
• Careers in IT
• Launching a startup and leveraging technology for innovations

If you would like to nominate someone to be a part of the spotlight, click Here.

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Spotlight

Kamruddin Shams

IPN Spotlight: Kamruddin Shams (Entrepreneur at The Shams Group)

Originally from Chittagong, Bangladesh, Kamruddin Shams came to USA with $29 in his pocket and the American dream. In his early years in the country, he started off as a janitor and then got in to Minneapolis Fed which got him interested in technology and innovation. He studied BS Quantitative Methods and Information Systems and MA in Health Administration. Early in his career he was in to IT and transformational management for health systems in ILL and CA. In 1989 he founded and is currently the Chairman of The Shams Group, a healthcare consulting and software firm which serves hospitals around the world and has operations in North America, & Asia. Since then he has been a serial entrepreneur engaged with IT, healthcare, education and real estate start-ups, investments, and innovations. Kamruddin Shams’ volunteer roles include IHPA, YSB, Past Chairman Nizari Progressive Federal Credit Union (NPFCU), IPN Bootcamp, & Chairman Worldwide Education Fund, providing education opportunity to over 2000 orphans and needy children around the world.

What skills have helped you in your career?
The ABCDE of skills that has helped me are:
A—ability to self-assess, be accountable for ones goals, be adaptable
B—be bold, big vision, balanced, benevolent and blissful
C—communication, collaboration, computing and critical thinking
D—disciplined, decisive, determined, dependable and dedicated
E—engaged, efficient, energetic, endurance, empowered and entrepreneurial driven

What do you wish you had known or done differently throughout your career?
No second guesses and regrets. Every career has its share of challenges, struggle and adversities. I have had my share, and I have always tried to be self-aware, knowledge driven, and adaptable to adjust the best I can, so I would not change a thing.

What is next for you in your career?
I look at each 10 year as a chapter in one’s life. The next chapter for me can be called the 3Vs. The 3Vs stand for Volunteering (transforming poor children lives via education and vocational training around the world http://wef.world , Vacationing (Travel the world, & learn), and Venturing (entrepreneurship and investing). I try to do this via a balanced lifestyle, and a philosophy of Tan, Man, Dhan and Fun.

What do you do for continuing education and improvement?
Read ferociously, travel extensively, network, stay humble, be open minded and non-judgmental and constantly learn from others.

What advice would you offer to others?
Understand who you are, and what your ‘calling’ is. Assess yourself, skills, potentials, abilities periodically, and know the difference between what you want, and what you are willing to work for. That is often the difference between success and failure. I coach a lot of professionals, who want to pivot in their career or become an entrepreneur, and I ask them—do you have the Phd (passion, hunger and discipline). We all have Phd for something. The question is finding out what that something is, and then executing it the best way you can, to be the best you can be.

Areas where you can help other Ismailis:
• Career Coaching
• Business Strategic Planning
• Mentoring on how to be the CEO of your life
• Entrepreneurship

If you would like to nominate someone to be a part of the spotlight, click Here.

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Spotlight

Shahzil Amin

IPN Spotlight: Shahzil Amin (Managing Partner at Karlani Capital)

Shahzil Amin, who goes by Shaz as many people butcher his real name, is the founder of two companies on two different ends of the spectrum. The first is Blue Track Media, a mobile advertising company which he started right out of high school. The second is Plugged, which is a premium headphone manufacturer that he started during his senior year in college. In April 2014, Blue Track Media was acquired by Karlani Capital, where Shaz now takes on the role of managing partner where he focuses on investing in passionate entrepreneurs with great ideas.

What skills have helped you in your career?
I focus more on my traits than my skills, as my skills aren’t anything that others don’t have. First, I’m obsessive. Once I’m sold on an idea all I can do is think about how I’m going to make it big while tackling all the possible hurdles that may appear. Second is my ability to think outside of the box to solve problems and create partnerships. The ability to routinely find creative streams of revenue and cost-effective solutions to problems is something I pride myself in. But that trait comes from my ability to obsess and completely indulge myself in the opportunity or problem. Last but clearly not the least, it’s my genuine and blunt nature that’s helped me tremendously. I give 10x more than I get back. I see the best in people until they prove me wrong. And most importantly I’m blunt and I remove myself from negative people and negative situations. Not many people will highlight the types of things that have helped me in my career but these traits were crucial for my success.

What do you wish you had known or done differently throughout your career?
I wish I had known how mentally and emotionally taxing the entrepreneurial journey is. Most people think that business issues, such as sales, employees, etc are some of the toughest things for entrepreneurs. I agree they are, but in my opinion the mental toll that the journey takes on them is just as tough. Imagine working 18-20 hours a day and seeing slow progress. Imagine losing friends and family due to their inability to understand what it takes to be successful or the envy that secretly builds up on their end. Imagine being responsible for the life of the employees you hire as well as their families’ well being. I wish I had known how all these issues would come to shape my life and my future.

What is next for you in your career?
It’s hard to predict the future, but what I want next for me is to work on an “Elon-type” of problem, something far greater than I can realize myself. Everyone wants to be Elon and will talk about him, but there are very few people who are willing to devote their life tackling grand issues. There was an interview that Elon gave a couple years ago where he said his wish was that the world’s best and smartest entrepreneurs and developers would stop working on internet companies and tackle the next big issue. That stuck to me. I’m not looking to create another Facebook or Instagram. I want to create another Tesla, SpaceX or Solarcity. I want to wake up and know I’m making a difference in millions of lives around the world. I’m not sure what I’ll be doing, but I gave myself a goal to figure it out by my early 30’s. However usually the best ideas just come to you without you chasing them.

What do you do for continuing education and improvement?
I audit classes at local universities. I don’t need another degree or an MBA, I just like to learn, especially when it’s free and there are no grades involved. As an entrepreneur, you’re constantly learning on the job.

What advice would you offer to others?
Many founders start a company for themselves, but I think about it differently. Start a company for someone else, someone you deeply love. Because most of the time you’ll eventually get over letting yourself down. But when you’re doing it for someone you love, you’ll work that much harder just to make sure you don’t let them down.

Areas where you can help other Ismailis:
• Entrepreneurship
• Venture Capital
• Talk Therapy

If you would like to nominate someone to be a part of the spotlight, click Here.

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Spotlight

Amyn Jan

IPN Spotlight: Amyn Jan (Technical Director with the US Government)

Amyn has spent over ten years with the US Government in various technical leadership roles working with diverse emerging technologies such as natural language processing, telematics & advanced cellular technologies. He is well-experienced in seeding several leading edge technical programs. Amyn has taught emerging technology classes in several US Government research forums as well as pioneered technical breakthroughs in this area. Prior to joining US Government, he spent ten years at private sector in applied research and product development.
Amyn holds a Master’s Degree in Electrical and Biomedical Engineering as well as an MBA.

What skills have helped you in your career?
• Critical thinking skills has served me well, in particular when you are dealing with complex ill-defined situations. Ability to evaluate and use multiple sources of information to effectively inform decisions and outcomes.
• Team work – I submit, the solution to complex problems are no longer possible in isolation. Instead more solutions are being derived through increased coordination across multi-disciplinary teams of knowledge workers who share common interests – thou make sure you bring added value/competency to the team.
• For a manager, two most critical skills – (i) Have competency is (in area) what you manage; and (ii) Empathy as how you manage your organization’s biggest asset – human capital.

What do you wish you had known or done differently throughout your career?
• Should have taken more risk, I am conservative in pursuing ideas. That said, we need to sometimes consider in the context of the rest of our lives. As a techie, working culture that embraces failure – silicon valley kind of an environment.
• I have tended to over compensate when it comes to “managing down” at the expense of “managing-up”, as it continues to be my challenge.

What is next for you in your career?
Seeking more responsible and potential overseas assignments.

What do you do for continuing education and improvement?
• Seeking knowledge is a condition that is continuous and critical. Have humility to recognize it as humility compels careful and necessary reflection. Learning is the minimum requirement for success in any field.
• One of the best offerings on your base pay is the training opportunity your organization offers – ask if your employer can offer paying for graduate school, etc.
• Personally, I get bored working in monotonic areas. Reflection I worked in diverse industry sectors, government research and policy, semiconductor, telecommunication and biomedical industries.

What advice would you offer to others?
• Build professional relationships, whether it means playing golf helps (or not) is a separate debate. The network of your former colleagues is as important than those within your organization.
• Work at a start-up or a small company in your career (if you can) – early the better.
• Embrace failure and learn quickly.

Areas where you can help other Ismailis:
• Career advice
• Working in the government sector

Categories
Event

IPN Technology SIG – Webinar – September 25th 2016: Understanding The Artificial Intelligence Revolution

Webinar on September 25th, 2016: Understanding the Artificial Intelligence Revolution

Program Overview
Understanding the Artificial Intelligence Revolution: Advancement in Artificial Intelligence in recent years has presented technologies like self-driving cars and machines that understand speech, such as Amazon’s Echo device. Join Amyn Jan, Technical Director with the US Government, for a webinar on September 25th at 1pm EST and learn about concepts like Deep Learning and its application in Medicine, Agriculture, Media and other industries.

Speaker Profile
Amyn Jan
Technical Director, US Government

Amyn has spent over ten years with the US Government in various technical leadership roles working with diverse emerging technologies such as natural language processing, telematics & advanced cellular technologies. He is well-experienced in seeding several leading edge technical programs. Amyn has taught emerging technology classes in several US Government research forums as well as pioneered technical breakthroughs in this area. Prior to joining US Government, he spend ten years at private sector in applied research and product development. Amyn holds a Master’s Degree in Electrical and Biomedical Engineering as well as an MBA.

Register for the webinar today: Click here

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Spotlight

Dr. Zulfikar Ramzan

IPN Spotlight: Dr. Zulfikar Ramzan (Chief Technology Officer, RSA)

Dr. Zulfikar Ramzan is the Chief Technology Officer for RSA. In this role, Zulfikar is responsible for leading the development of the company’s technology strategy and will focus on bringing to market the innovations that help protect RSA customers from the growing number of advanced threats. Prior to joining RSA, Ramzan served as CTO of Elastica (acquired by BlueCoat), where he leveraged machine learning technologies and natural language processing to enable customers to more securely access and use cloud services. Before Elastica, Ramzan respectively served as Chief Scientist of both Sourcefire, (acquired by Cisco), and malware analytics company Immunet (acquired by Sourcefire). He previously served as the Technical Director of Symantec’s security technology and response division, where he was the architect for the company’s reputation-based malware detection technology. Ramzan earned his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from MIT.

What skills have helped you in your career?
Public speaking, being able to interact with customers, media training, learning to articulate technical concepts to a broader audience, and deep subject matter exposure in relevant domains such as cybersecurity and machine learning.

What do you wish you had known or done differently throughout your career?
Luck plays a more tremendous role than we can sometimes ever realize. That said, according to Louis Pasteur, “Luck favors the prepared mind”. The other influential idea I wish I had known about earlier is the work on Growth versus Fixed Mindsets by Carol Dweck (and also the related work on the importance of Grit by Angela Duckworth).

What is next for you in your career?
I have my current dream job that offers me a phenomenal opportunity for personal growth. I would like to continue to expand my knowledge base and scope of influence within my current role. I have also just been in my current role for about a year, so it is hard to think beyond it at this point.

What do you do for continuing education and improvement?
Reading a ton, talking with people (e.g., at relevant conferences and other venues), and leveraging online educational resources help tremendously. I think it’s important to have a healthy mix. For example, reading and online courses might help you strengthen a particular skill, while talking with others in the field might help you better determine what particular skills or concepts are important in your industry. Forums like Twitter and LinkedIn are a great source of reading material if you follow relevant people in your industry and beyond. I strive to learn constantly. For example, if I hear someone mention a particular technical term or concept with which I’m not familiar, I will make a note of the term and spend time learning about it later (in much the same way that your grade school teacher might have told you to underline the words you didn’t know in a reading passage and look those words up subsequently).

What advice would you offer to others?
Value and cultivate relationships. Be someone who is perceived to be a “Giver” versus a “Taker”. No person is an island unto themselves and team work is incredibly important. To the extent that you are perceived as someone who is a team player and who always strives to bring his or her A game towards the goal of making the team successful, wonderful opportunities will gravitate towards you. Always look to grow personally. If you feel that your current job or role is stalling your growth, consider finding an alternative (even within the same company) or find ways to expand your current role. That said, be selective with regard to what you do. Many opportunities might present themselves to you, but you should learn to prioritize those that offer leverage and growth, since time is a very precious commodity. That said, earlier in your career, you may not always be able to cherry pick among the opportunities that come your way, so be willing to take baby steps in the right direction.

Areas where you can help other Ismailis:
• Career mentoring
• Interacting with media
• Applying to graduate school