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This is a Berkman Klein alum page. The information below may be out of date.

Mutale Nkonde is the founding CEO of AI For the People (AFP) a non profit communications agency.

AFP’s mission is to eliminate the under-representation of black professionals in the American technology sector by 2030. We do this in three ways:

  • Identifying, recruiting and developing technologists from traditionally under represented groups.
  • Commissioning research on how technical systems impact Black people
  • We then collaborate with journalists, television producers, film makers and artists to develop content designed to change tech neutrality narratives, and empower communities to advocate for the development of anti-racist policies to govern the design and deployment of AI systems.

Prior to this Nkonde worked in AI Governance. During that time she was part of the team that introduced the Algorithmic and Deep Fakes Algorithmic Acts, as well as the No Biometric Barriers to Housing Act to the US House of Representatives.

She started her career as a broadcast journalist and produced documentaries for the BBC, CNN & ABC. She now also writes widely on race and tech, as well speaking at conferences across the world and currently a fellowships at the Digital Civil Society Lab at Stanford and an affiliate at the Berkman Klein Center of Internet and Society at Harvard.


News

PBS
Nov 25, 2019

Exploring Artificial Intelligence

Mutale Nkonde shares insight into AI and the criminal justice system


Community

CNN

People of color have a new fight: techno-racism

Mutale Nkonde discusses techno-racism and facial recognition software with CNN.

May 11, 2021
NPR

Why Tech Companies Are Limiting Police Use of Facial Recognition

Mutale Nkonde talks with NPR about facial recognition technology.

Feb 18, 2021
Misinformation Review

Disinformation creep: ADOS and the strategic weaponization of breaking news

Mutale Nkonde and colleagues publish in HKS Misinformation Review

Jan 18, 2021
No More Normal Podcast

The Disinformation Age

Mutale Nkonde joined the No More Normal podcast to discuss misinformation and algorithms.

Oct 25, 2020
Museum of the Moving Image

Surveillance of Black Lives

Apryl Williams, Mutale Nkonde, and Allissa V. Richardson speak at event

Jul 16, 2020
Vox

How can we ban facial recognition when it’s already everywhere?

Mutale Nkonde speaks with Vox about facial recognition technology

Jul 3, 2020
NPR

Tech Companies Are Limiting Police Use of Facial Recognition. Here's Why

Mutale Nkonde talks to NPR about facial recognition

Jun 23, 2020
LawBytes

Mutale Nkonde on Racial Justice, Bias, and Technology

Mutale Nkonde a guest on LawBytes Podcast

Jun 15, 2020
KUNM

Keeping An Eye On You

Mutale Nkonde joins panel to discuss data privacy, surveillance, sophisticated bots, racially biased tech and misinformation

Jun 12, 2020
MIT Technology Review

The two-year fight to stop Amazon from selling face recognition to the police

Mutale Nkonde discusses IBM’s letter to the Congressional Black Caucus

Jun 12, 2020
Coda Story

When surveillance tech has ties to white supremacy

Mutale Nkonde discusses the impact of surveillance technology on minority communities

Jun 11, 2020
The New York Times

IBM quits facial recognition, joins call for police reforms

Mutale Nkonde weighs in on IBM’s decision

Jun 9, 2020
The New York Times

People Can’t Stop Watching Videos of Police and Protesters. That’s the Idea.

Supercuts of police behavior are receiving enormous numbers of views.

Jun 2, 2020
HKS Journal of African American Policy

Automated Anti-Blackness

An essay by Mutale Nkonde

May 31, 2020
With a Side of Knowledge

Mutale Nkonde on AI and bias

Mutale Nkonde discusses AI, algorithmic bias, and why we need humans on Notre Dame’s With a Side of Knowledge Podcast

May 28, 2020
Coindesk

Why We Need a Federal Privacy Law

Mutale Nkonde spoke to Coindesk about surveillance capitalism and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA).

Feb 8, 2020
Sunday Civics

Intersection of Race and Technology

BKC fellow Mutale Nkonde in conversation about disinformation targeted towards Black communities.

Jan 26, 2020
Slate

Which Tech Companies Are Doing the Most Harm?

Mutale Nkonde joined Slate's technology podcast What Next: TBD to discuss Alphabet and inherent bias.

Jan 24, 2020
Slate

The Evil List: Which tech companies are doing the most harm?

BKC fellow Mutale Nkonde responded to Slate with her views on Alphabet

Jan 15, 2020
City on the Hill Podcast

Mutale Nkonde on Race-Based Disinformation

BKC fellow discusses the role race plays in election interference efforts on the City on the Hill podcast.

Dec 2, 2019
Fast Company

Portland's facial recognition ban could be the strictest yet

Mutale Nkonde warns of companies using biometric data

Dec 2, 2019
The Wall Street Journal

Robots Are Taking Over (the Rental Screening Process)

Landlords are using artificial intelligence to vet prospective renters

Nov 21, 2019
Essence

Mutale Nkonde featured for her work on biased algorithms

BKC fellow one of four women featured

Nov 12, 2019
VentureBeat

AI ethics is all about power

Mutale Nkonde suggests tech and AI companies embrace racial literacy

Nov 11, 2019
Harvard Business Review

Is AI Bias a Corporate Social Responsibility Issue?

Improving algorithms isn’t just good for your company, Mutale Nkonde says

Nov 4, 2019
Financial Times

Can you believe your eyes? How deepfakes are coming for politics

Mutale Nkonde discusses the need to regulate deepfakes

Oct 24, 2019
MEEDIA

How Journalists Can Reveal Algorithm Maladies

Mutale Nkonde discusses how algorithmic decisionmaking systems reproduce structural racism

Oct 18, 2019
MIT Technology Review

Can you make AI fairer than a judge?

Mutale Nkonde contributed to courtroom algorithm game from MIT Tech Review

Oct 17, 2019
MIT Technology Review

This is how you kick facial recognition out of your town

Mutale Nkonde says a federal ban is unlikely

Oct 4, 2019
Fast Company

5 simple rules to make AI a force for good

BKC fellow Mutale Nkonde shares suggestions for making A.I. a force for good

Sep 20, 2019
MIT Technology Review

A facial recognition ban is coming to the US, says an AI policy advisor

Mutale Nkonde discusses potential federal restrictions on the use of facial recognition technology

Sep 18, 2019
The Washington Times

Women, men sharply divided on driverless cars

Women are far less enthusiastic about the prospect of driverless cars than men, recent studies show.

Aug 13, 2019
The Atlantic

The Lawless Way to Disable 8chan

The decision to disable an infamous message board fell to Matthew Prince, an internet executive who is deeply uncomfortable with his own power.

Aug 6, 2019
The Boston Globe

Can the U.S. regulate 8chan?

Incoming BKC fellow Mutale Nkonde says we need a legal definition for harmful speech that could be regulated

Aug 5, 2019
Columbia Journalism Review

Legislation aimed at stopping deepfakes is a bad idea

US legislators say they want to stop deepfakes at the source, so they introduced the DEEPFAKES Accountability Act.

Jul 1, 2019

Events

Jun 1, 2020 @ 12:00 AM

The Ideas of John Perry Barlow in Uncertain Times

Charlie Nesson, founder of the Berkman Klein Center and Jonathan Vincent Pace, the first person to work with the John Perry Barlow archive at Stanford University, join in a…

Feb 4, 2020 @ 12:00 PM

Advancing Racial Literacy in Tech

Featuring Dr. Howard Stevenson

Part of the BKC Luncheon Series