The Sunday Show

Through to Thriving: Honoring Our Elders with Dr. Timnit Gebru

Jun 22, 2025
Join Dr. Timnit Gebru, founder of the Distributed Artificial Intelligence Research Institute, as she dives into the pressing need for technology that serves elder communities. She shares her compelling vision for an internet that honors their wisdom. The conversation explores the challenges marginalized elders face with tech while advocating for empathy in development. Dr. Gebru also discusses the impact of misinformation on immigrant communities and the importance of collaborative, culturally aware language technologies. It's an inspiring call for inclusive tech design!
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ANECDOTE

Elder Tech Support Anecdote

  • Anika helped her friend's elderly mother use DocuSign to close on a house, highlighting tech struggles elders face. - This personal experience sparked reflection on prioritizing family and elders in technology design.
INSIGHT

Tech Reflects Narrow Imagination

  • Tech often serves a narrow group linked to money and power, influenced by military and corporate interests. - Most tech fails to consider who truly benefits and whose imagination it reflects.
INSIGHT

Tech Assumes User Must Adapt

  • Technology design assumes users must change to use it, rather than tech adapting to diverse needs. - Public transportation models inclusive design; tech should similarly accommodate elders and disabled users as they are.
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