The Path from Mathematics and STEM to Meta and AI Research with Dr. Kristin Lauter

Mike Sacopulos speaks with Kristin E. Lauter, PhD, about her chapter titled, “Trust, Access, and Visibility,” in the book, Lessons Learned: Stories from Women Leaders in STEM. Lauter is the director of Research Science, North American Labs for Meta AI Research.

The New England Journal of Medicine recently published a series of articles looking at AI in medicine. After spending more than 20 years at Microsoft, Lauter is now at the forefront of AI research at Meta. In this interview, she describes the basics of AI and how the power of AI will be powerful for society. She also describes risk inherent because of human involvement; how humans could misuse the tools.

As a past president of the Association of Women in Mathematics, Lauter has been a strong advocate of women in STEM positions. She describes her philosophy of the goal of “1/3” and her work in launching the Research Networks program to support and advance women in math and computer science.

She finds the chapters in the Lessons Learned book to be inspiring – both in messaging to younger professionals that, “You are not alone” and in advocating for both access and recognition of work of women and other underrepresented minorities in the sciences.

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