OpenAI event with Black influencers sparks questions about representation and responsibility
TheGrio...
Critics questioned why Black creators attended the exclusive OpenAI event, while supporters argued engagement is necessary to help Black communities navigate the rapidly evolving technology.
A recent camp involving tech influencers, Black creatives and OpenA is drawing swift backlash online.
Last weekend, the tech giant hosted a group of “creative techies” for a summer camp-style retreat at a luxury wellness resort in New York’s Hudson Valley. While the trip led several attendees to post about their experiences on social media, the conversation about the attendance of certain Black creatives raised skepticism, particularly given how Black people interact with AI and how it is used against them.
“They intentionally invited the demographics AI tools harm women and POC,” Kat Tinsley wrote in a brief post on social media. “Not only do data centers disproportionately impact Black people due to environmental racism, but people are using AI to make [porn] of women without their consent.”
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One of those individuals who drew backlash was Morgan DeBaun, the CEO of Blavity.
DeBaun has been vocal about the good and bad of AI, arguing that Black people need to be aware of both the benefits and dangers of the technology. While the Blavity brand was called out over its May layoffs, DeBaun’s presence at the retreat, weeks after speaking about equity in the space at the NAACP Convention in Chicago, had social media users split.
“We truly are [our] own worst enemies,” journalist Kathia Woods wrote in regard to DeBaun’s presence at the retreat. “Mind you these centers are mostly built in our communities. But hey I hope there was [a] check to help the publication.”
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One user countered in her own post, highlighting how DeBaun’s appearance at the retreat made sense given what her online advocacy has been about.
“She does consistently teach Black people how to responsibly use AI for their businesses,” the user wrote of DeBaun. “And pushes, while you may not love it, you need to understand it and stay up to date on it. She also teaches about spotting AI and discusses AI regulation. Her teachings on AI are more for efficiencies, time management, focus and growth opportunities.”
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While the calls for more Black faces and entities to learn about AI have grown, the dangers of AI have been on full display as well.
In August 2024, Robert Dillion, a 52-year-old Black man from Florida, was arrested for a crime he did not commit in a state he hadn’t set foot in. Due to the use of AI facial recognition, he was jailed by the Jacksonville Beach Police Department. He is now suing the department and neighboring sheriff’s offices over his wrongful arrest, as he was 300 miles away from the crime.
“Over a year later, I’m still picking up the pieces of my life, all because the police relied on this dangerous technology instead of doing their jobs and actually investigating,” Dillion said through the ACLU.
The same police department arrested another man in an unrelated case and jailed him for three months due to their artificial intelligence system, later freeing him because it was faulty. Jalil Richardson lost custody of his children, his job and had his life thrown into turmoil due to the false charges. Richardson was at his job in North Carolina when he was identified as the suspect in a stolen-car grand theft case.
The discourse also added fuel to discussions surrounding higher education at Black colleges.
Earlier this year, Fisk University announced a $1 billion plan touted as a “quantum leap” to revitalize the campus. The plan also includes a 70,000-square-foot data center that administrators believe could generate generational revenue for the Nashville-based HBCU for years to come. Tensions boiled over at a town hall meeting in June, where Fisk leaders attempted to quell concerns about the data center, but residents remained unconvinced. Late last month, a moratorium was passed, halting data center permits for a number of projects, including the one at Fisk, to December 1.
The hidden cost of AI in Black and brown communities has borne out in recent months. Although the South has become the primary location for data centers, residents in some areas where data centers have been built have reported electric bill increases of over 250%.
The increased figures highlight a new example of what some citizens consider as a decades-long approach to environmental racism and the health concerns of Black and Brown citizens being ignored in the name of Big Tech and millions of dollars of supposed revenue flooding into cities. Even with Black faces in the space, the dangers of data centers remain prevalent in majority Black cities such as Memphis and more.
“Data centers now drive the largest surge in American electricity and water demand in a generation,” A. Prince Albert III, an adjunct professor at Georgetown University, told theGrio in April. “Big Tech is siting them in Black and poor communities, raising utility bills, polluting the air, and draining watersheds.
“Federal rollbacks have removed the brakes,” he said. “If we let this pattern set, the AI economy will be built on sacrifice zones and a planet too hot to live on.”