Recoding the TED Talk

Would you believe you can deliver a TED talk without stepping on a TED stage?

Last fall, I was scheduled to give a talk at the Inaugural TED AI event. The speaking line up included many luminaries in the AI space I admire. I was eager to share my latest ideas from “AI as a kaleidoscope of distortion instead of a mirror of society” to the need for Deep Data Deletion (D3) that addresses data, models, and products made without permission from  or compensation to creatives. My planned talk was pregnant with reflections on creative rights and biometric rights from my book Unmasking AI.

That morning, I unfortunately had some challenges that prevented me from taking the stage. Thankfully, a friend helped me put together a makeshift hotel recording. I had already put in the work of preparing slides and speaking points. I even had a Deana Shaaban outfit freshly delivered from Egypt for the occasion. I recorded a voiceover on my phone and sent it to my friend to sync the recording with my slides. We emailed the organizers to explain the situation and also attached the recording in case they decided to play it during my time slot. Hours later, I received the most heart touching video of the audience sending me cheers. “Get well!”

In the video, my friend held up my book Unmasking AI, as if to say my presence was still in the room. The organizers adjusted the schedule and sent the TED AI participants a link to my recording. Months later, I was surprised when TED organizers reached out to share they were putting the hotel recording on TED.com. My TED AI talk breaks so many widely held TED talk conventions. TED talks are recorded live. This one was not. TED talks are done in front of an audience. I had an initial audience of one. TED talks are held together by the stage presence of the speaker. My presence was the sound of my voice and the weight of my ideas. I did keep one core TED talk feature: the color red.

Welcome to the transformed TED talk.

https://www.ted.com/talks/joy_buolamwini_how_to_protect_your_rights_in_the_age_of_ai

BONUS: If you are curious, my first TED talk was recorded in 2017. Somehow it is still just as relevant: https://www.ted.com/talks/joy_buolamwini_how_i_m_fighting_bias_in_algorithms