Good morning, Broadsheet readers! Business Insider president Barbara Peng was named CEO of the publication, model and investor Karlie Kloss acquired i-D Magazine, and Stanford professor Fei-Fei Li shared her personal story to advance her mission of building human-centered technology. Have a good Wednesday!
– A human story. Stanford professor Fei-Fei Li is an AI technologist known for her work to make the fast-moving technology more human, a crusade she launched via a widely-read 2018 New York Times op-ed. When she started to write a book, she focused on that work—until she shared a draft with her friend and fellow co-director of Stanford’s Human-Centered AI Institute.
He told her, “There are many AI technologists out there who can write a popular science book,” Li recalls. “But for all the young people, young women, people of diverse backgrounds, and immigrants out there—there isn’t much of a voice they identify with.”
Li isn’t used to putting the spotlight on herself, but she reluctantly rewrote her book to include her personal story. Her memoir/technology book, The Worlds I See: Curiosity, Exploration, and Discovery at the Dawn of AI, was released last week. “I still feel uncomfortable,” she says. “But I see that as my responsibility.”
In the book, Li describes her journey falling in love with physics alongside her experience immigrating from Chengdu, China to the U.S. at age 15 and learning English from scratch. She shares memories like overhearing a teacher tell male students that it was unacceptable they were falling behind girls in the class because they were “biologically smarter.” She shares her personal and family story alongside the 20th-century history of AI and the technology that led to it.
Courtesy of Stanford University
It’s fitting that such a human story was written by a technologist who argues that we need human-centered technology. Early on, Li rang alarm bells about the potential societal consequences of artificial intelligence, though she’s not among the more radical camp now warning of AI’s existential threat. “I respect that discussion because I think, intellectually, it’s a worthy discussion to have,” she says. “But I’m much more concerned about the potential catastrophic social risks, like disinformation, impact on democracy, job disruption, workforce disruption, bias, and privacy infringement.”
Li hopes that her book will be read by the under-served audience her colleague urged her to write it for—but also by business leaders and other experts in the AI space.
“The more we create this incredible technology, the more we participate in governing it and harnessing it,” she says. “So the future is exciting, but it’s for us to define.”
Emma Hinchliffe
[email protected]
@_emmahinchliffe
The Broadsheet is Fortune’s newsletter for and about the world’s most powerful women. Today’s edition was curated by Joseph Abrams. Subscribe here.
ALSO IN THE HEADLINES
– Back to business. Barbara Peng is the new CEO of Business Insider after the publication announced that Henry Blodget was stepping down from the position. Peng previously served as president of the publication and will lead it as it looks to prioritize subscriber acquisition over social media presence. Peng’s first move was to bring back the Business Insider name, ditching the Insider name adopted in 2021. Reuters
– Acquisitions in style. Model, investor, and entrepreneur Karlie Kloss acquired i-D Magazine and will become chief executive officer of the fashion and culture magazine formerly owned by Vice Media Group. This is Kloss’s second magazine acquisition—she led a group of investors who acquired W magazine in 2020—and the recent launch of her Bedford Media company indicates more are to come. Business of Fashion
– Tequila takeover. The CEO of liquor conglomerate Diageo thinks growing tequila demand in the U.S. indicates that the rest of the world is ready for a tequila revolution. Debra Crew, a U.S. army veteran who arrived at Diageo after leading tobacco company Reynolds American, argues that cocktails like the Paloma can be a passport into international liquor cabinets where tequila is nowhere to be found. Wall Street Journal
– Reses’s pieces. Jackie Reses spent her 30+ year career rising the ranks of investment banks, private equity firms, and big companies like Yahoo and Square. During the pandemic, she convinced the U.S. Treasury secretary to let Square distribute PPP loans and worked to get those loans to small businesses. Reses’s new venture, however, puts her at the helm of the wildly successful Lead Bank, a fintech bank designed to mitigate the challenges she encountered throughout her career. Forbes
– Career cushion. Moms who had to give up full-time jobs are turning to platforms like the Mom Project for part-time work while they juggle child care responsibilities. Such sites post jobs with flexible hours and are intended to prevent resume gaps from infringing on future employment. BBC
ON MY RADAR
The plight of the eldest daughter The Atlantic
Kim Kardashian is in her mogul era British GQ
Jill Biden announces a White House initiative focused on women’s health research: This ‘has been underfunded for decades’ Fortune
PARTING WORDS
“My emotions are very useful information. It doesn’t mean they need to be in the driver’s seat of my life, but they definitely need a seat in the car.”
—Actress and writer Jennette McCurdy discussing how nervous she was when starting her new, wildly popular podcast
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