Hack the Future will kick off in historic Greenwood, Okla., later this month in partnership with Black Tech Street; additional events slated for Chicago, Cleveland, and Houston to prioritize and engage with diverse communities
WASHINGTON,D.C. - SeedAI announced today Hack the Future, a new series of events to drive artificial intelligence (AI) learning, engagement, and training deeper into communities traditionally left out of the early stages of technological change. Hack the Future builds on the momentum from the Generative Red Team (GRT) Challenge at DEF CON 31 in August where thousands of people tested AI generative large language models (LLM) built by Anthropic, Cohere, Google, Hugging Face, Meta, OpenAI, and Stability AI for bias, potential harms, and security vulnerabilities.
The first Hack the Future will take place in historic Greenwood, Okla., on October 26 and 27. Greenwood, also known as “Black Wall Street,” embodies the socio-cultural complexities that must be built into the foundation of all AI research, education, and adoption efforts. Once the most affluent community of black entrepreneurs in the country, Greenwood was destroyed twice, once in an act of overt violence, and then by covert structural racism.
The area’s ongoing revitalization and its historic destruction represent some of the best and worst of American society, making Greenwood a perfect microcosm to explore the equitable adoption of AI and its potential to remedy or exacerbate socioeconomic inequities, particularly in communities that are historically disadvantaged.
“Since August, we’ve been actively exploring how to build on the GRT to make it support communities that want to learn and train in AI, including conversations with local leaders, key legislators in Congress, and the Administration,” said Austin Carson, founder of SeedAI and organizer of Hack the Future. “We selected Greenwood because of its historical significance and Black Tech Street’s comprehensive strategy to make Greenwood a major technology hub for black AI innovation in this community and underserved communities across the country. Hack the Future: Greenwood and our events in other cities will inform decision-makers across all branches of government as they look to create equitable regulation around AI.”
On the first day of Hack the Future: Greenwood, participants will test generative LLMs for bias and potential harms through challenges curated by Black Tech Street and other community advisors. The second day will feature panels focused on building relationships and educating community leaders on the national AI conversation.
Community college students who participated in the GRT Challenge will join 300+ community members for Hack the Future: Greenwood. They will pilot the long-term development plan and the new training and testing platform for AI testing, which will help establish Greenwood as a central hub of equitable development of AI. The students will take the knowledge and tools they acquire in Greenwood back to their own communities to continue the advancement of AI training and testing.
SeedAI selected Black Tech Street as its community partner for the first Hack the Future due to the organization's relentless commitment to rebirth Black Wall Street as a black innovation economy by securing black tech-focused economic and industry development opportunities for the Greenwood community. Black Tech Street previously led a delegation of 65 members to the GRT Challenge at DEF CON 31.
“Hack the Future: Greenwood is a critical first step in the strategy to establish 21st century Tulsa as a global leader in responsible artificial intelligence,” said Tyrance Billingsley II, founder and executive director of Black Tech Street. “We have an opportunity to pilot what equitable education, application, and adoption of AI could look like, putting Tulsa at the forefront of the hottest and most transformative technology humans have ever developed.”
SeedAI will work with Houston Community College for Hack the Future: Houston. SeedAI is currently reviewing community groups in Chicago and Cleveland to be core partners in these cities. Interested groups can learn more about becoming a host community partner and apply until Dec. 1, 2023, at https://hackthefuture.com/community-registration.
“At Hack the Future, we will ensure each community organization will own the data they generate,” noted Carson. “We also plan to add additional education and development tracks aimed at creators within these communities. This will ensure they can continue to be recognized, rewarded, and reap the unique benefits for creators in the age of AI.”
Hack the Future is organized by SeedAI and testing of AI models will run on an open source testing and evaluation platform built by AI Village. The Wilson Center Science and Technology Innovation Program (STIP) joins as a policy partner. Hack the Future is made possible in part through a charitable donation from Google.org.
To learn more about Hack the Future, including Hack the Future: Greenwood, visit https://hackthefuture.com.
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About SeedAI
Founded in 2021, SeedAI is a nonprofit advocacy organization working toward responsible development of and increased access to AI. SeedAI coordinates and collaborates with public and private stakeholders, conducts research, and works to facilitate AI resources designed to help communities create transparent, trustworthy, and transformative technology. Without the involvement of a diverse, large community to test and evaluate the technology, AI will simply leave large portions of society behind. To learn more, visit www.seedai.org.
Media Contact: Kelly L. Crummey / 617-921-8089 / kelly@klccommunications.com
