Curiouser Soundbites: AI Has a Bias Problem and Tennisha Martin Has a Plan

If you've ever Googled "how to break into cybersecurity" on a Tuesday afternoon…

Welcome!

You've made it to the right place.

Tennisha Martin has been at the forefront of answering that exact question for years. As the Founder and Chairwoman of BlackGirlsHack, she has helped thousands of people find their way into cybersecurity and IT, and she joined Mo Sadek on the Curiouser & Curiouser podcast to talk all about it. 

Now, if you haven't listened to the show before, think of it as a conversation between people who are genuinely curious about where AI is going and are honest enough to admit that they don't have all the answers yet. 

So, let's get into it shall we?

Newsflash: Bias Is Already Baked Into AI

I'll just say it plainly. Some of the AI systems making decisions about your career, your healthcare, and even what you pay at the store were not built with everyone in mind. And the consequences of that aren't hypothetical anymore, they're already here.

Let's take hiring for example. Some AI systems are being used to help screen out initial applicants before a human ever lays eyes on their resumes, and studies have even shown that names that read as "ethnic" can be flagged differently by these systems, filtering out candidates before they even get a shot. And then there are one way interviews, where AI can analyze your facial expressions to determine whether you're a good "cultural fit." Tennisha even noted that she refuses to do them and for good reason.

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That 35% figure comes from the Gender Shades study out of MIT, and other audits throughout 2024 have confirmed these gaps haven't closed.

The downstream impact of all of this is already playing out in ways most people aren't connecting to AI yet. This same bias that we’re seeing is already showing up in store pricing algorithms, in educational institutions, and in healthcare and criminal justice systems where a wrong call doesn't just cost someone a job interview but their freedom, their health, or their life. 

And at the root of all of it is the same problem Tennisha keeps coming back to: garbage in, garbage out. If the people building these systems don't reflect everyone, the systems won't either. Period.

And Slapping a Fix on Top of It Isn't Working

Yes, this is basically what's happening with AI bias right now.

A lot of the fixes we're seeing out there are really just Flex Tape on a broken foundation. Looks good from a distance, but the leak? Yeah… still very much there.

Okay so take ChatBlackGPT for example. The project came out shortly after ChatGPT started taking off. The idea was to basically introduce a layer on top of ChatGPT that provides a more unbiased, historically accurate lens to the answers you're getting. But the problem with this kind of an approach is exactly what Tennisha called out:

"...If I have a foundation that is built with a whole bunch of bias and a whole bunch of garbage in, garbage out, right? Then even if I put makeup on top of it and make it look pretty and I'm saying, "do wonderful things" on top of it, at its core, it's still rotting and it's still not going to be able to give us something that's truly unbiased."

Until the people training and building these models reflect the full range of people using them, the foundation stays broken. And no amount of layering on top of it will change that.

The same is true for how we try to navigate our careers inside broken systems. Tennisha spent 15 years trying to out-certify and out-educate everyone around her before realizing the thing that actually changed her trajectory had nothing to do with credentials.

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What Tennisha Built Instead

So what does the real fix actually look like? For Tennisha, it looked like building something from scratch.

BlackGirlsHack started as a nonprofit training organization focused on helping underrepresented communities break into cybersecurity and IT and has since grown into a blossoming community of thousands of people who have gone on to build real careers in this field (yay!).

Not only did she build this incredible community, but she decided to take it a step further. Every year during Hacker Summer Camp in Las Vegas, Tennisha runs SquadCon, the only Black led independent cybersecurity conference during that week. SquadCon is a place where researchers who never get the spotlight actually get to share their work. Where you don't have to be an elite hacker to feel like you belong. Where there's even a quiet meditation room for the neuro-spicy folks who need a break from peopling. Yes, really.

And if you're sitting there thinking, “oh my god, how much cooler can Tennisha get?” The answer is: much. Tennisha also co-authored Securing Our Future: Embracing the Resilience and Brilliance of Black Women in Cyber with the Black Women In Cyber collective. It's full of stories from women who have navigated this industry, found their footing, and decided to write it all down so the next person has a roadmap. 

Consider it the mentor nobody gave you.

So What Do You Do With This

If any of this resonated, good! That means you're paying attention. And honestly, that's already half the battle. The field is changing so fast and the best thing you can do right now is stay curious, find your people, and keep showing up.

Here's where to go next:

• 🔗 BlackGirlsHack
• 🎟️ SquadCon
• 📖 Securing Our Future

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And if you want to hear the full conversation, Episode 7 of Curiouser & Curiouser is waiting for you.

Stay curious friends!

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