KALW Presents: Difficult Conversations - AI and the Workplace

Artificial Intelligence proponents say it automates mundane tasks, freeing people up for more creative and productive pursuits, making their lives easier. Opponents say it eliminates jobs, widening the wealth gap, making people's lives harder.

We'll explore the divisive issue of AI in the workplace.

SPEAKERS

Jane Gong is the first Director of Emerging Technologies for the City and County of San Francisco, where she leads citywide efforts to adopt AI and emerging technologies responsibly and equitably. Since establishing the Emerging Technologies team in November 2024, she has positioned San Francisco as a national leader in public sector AI, partnering with OpenAI to pilot ChatGPT Enterprise and spearheading the citywide launch of Microsoft Copilot Chat to 30,000 staff. Her work centers on balancing innovation with public accountability: piloting AI-powered tools to cut 311 call times, designing AI translation workflows to better serve San Francisco’s multilingual communities, and building San Francisco’s first AI inventory under the City’s AI Transparency Ordinance. A former tech founder and first-generation immigrant who once relied on City services herself, Jane is committed to ensuring that AI and emerging tech create opportunities for every San Franciscan, not just a select few.

Ash Kumra, Head of Programming @ AI Collective (world’s largest AI movement),White House Award Winner, Former FM Radio Show Host

An award-winning speaker, event producer, and radio show host, Ash Kumra has been honored by the White House with the EMPACT 100 for his contributions to entrepreneurship. His popular LinkedIn Learning course, How to Stand Out with Your Expertise, has helped over 25,000 professionals and leaders. Currently, he serves as the Head of Events and Community for The AI Collective, the world’s largest AI movement boasting 70,000+ members across 25+ global chapters.

Author of Raising AI, De Kai is the pioneering AI professor who built the web’s first global language translator and invented groundbreaking language models, spawning Google Translate and Microsoft Bing Translator. For his contributions, he was honored by the Association for Computational Linguistics as one of its Founding Fellows. De Kai holds joint appointments at HKUST (Hong Kong) and International Computer Science Institute (Berkeley). He is Independent Director of the AI ethics think tank The Future Society and was one of eight inaugural members of Google’s AI ethics council.

Moderated by Ben Trefny, Executive Producer at KALW Public Media. He's acting President of the Northern California chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, serves on the Journalism and Media Ethics Council at Santa Clara University's Markkula Center for Applied Ethics, and he's a Maynard 200 Fellow.