Name: Holly Manley

University: Aston University – Biomedical Engineering

Role: Cloud Solution Architect Intern

Description of Role:

I sit within the Customer Success Unit which is part of post-sales. We get involved with customers after they have been sold a product. We only deal with a hand-picked group of high potential customers who will benefit from the extra help provided by our department. Some of these are household names, others are cloud-born businesses with massive potential to grow. The role of the Customer Success Unit is to help customers use the products they have already committed to, so they can make their businesses more efficient through the use of Microsoft’s technology. As a Cloud Solution Architect I work with our Azure customers, but I also assist the department’s leadership team and use software to keep track of what is happening in different customer projects.

What does an average week look like?

Every week is different. Most of my team work from home so I am free to work from our offices in Reading, London or at home. I usually work from our Reading office and visit London once or twice a week for events such as hackathons, ‘unconferences’ and customer meetings.

I have a one-to-one with my manager every week to discuss my current projects and what I need to focus on. It helps to keep me on track and think about what is most valuable to spend my time on. I’m encouraged to have an impact on customers during my internship, so I spend a day a week working on customer shadowing projects. This could include building a bot, creating a PowerBI dashboard, or attending technical workshops.

Throughout my internship I have completed a series of exams including Azure Fundamentals, introduction to Python and Microsoft Office. Although I had a little programming experience from my degree, it’s not essential to have. Training is on-going and I’m always encouraged to learn more about any areas I’m interested in. For example, I usually attend a meetup event at least twice a month – these are community events anyone can come to. Each event has a theme and it’s a great place to network and meet people outside or inside the company with similar interests to you. I recently presented at a Tech Women London meetup on the topic of GenZ in AI. It was great opportunity to improve my public speaking, as well as sharing my unique insight into a subject so relevant to me.

Could you tell us about one of your highlights of the role?

The highlight of my role would be the freedom I’m given to pursue what I’m interested in. I’ve found that I am more passionate about the Data & AI space so I am shadowing the Finance team to gain more exposure, which my manager has been very supportive of. In addition to this, I’ve had so many opportunities to get involved in the women in tech community, which is a topic I feel very strongly about. I’ve volunteered at hackathons for teenagers, events for secondary school girls, and met inspiring women. I love that this can be part of my job role and is seen as a valuable contribution to the department, as opposed to being something I have to fit around my other responsibilities.

What has surprised you the most working at Microsoft?

Microsoft really values their early in career community and we are given a lot of responsibility. They really care about our ideas and feedback because we have an alternative perspective and see things differently. There is a lot of investment into the interns and we’re really encouraged to embrace the Microsoft culture, as any other full time-employee would. Above all, the value Microsoft devotes into the early in career community is matched by the importance Microsoft places on it’s culture.

Culture has been so much more important in my internship than I ever thought it would be. It affects everything – the way you work, the way you interact with people, your mindset. We’re encouraged to learn and think creatively. We’ve been taught to recognise our strengths and build on them, and learnt how this can translate into our work. I’ve developed important skills like time management, public speaking and networking, which I think have really prepared me for my final year of university.

What has the transition from University to Microsoft been like?

Some aspects of the internship are similar to university, in that you manage your time yourself. We have flexible schedules so it doesn’t matter when you do the work as long as it gets done. I find that I have a stronger support system here than is provided at university. I know who to reach out to for different things and who can help when, however this can be very difficult when you first start your internship. You have to be very self-motivated, more so than during your degree. You aren’t finishing that project because you’ve been given a deadline and need the grade, you finish it because it will lead to your next opportunity and open new doors for you.

What has been your personal highlight of the year?

I think the highlight of my year has been the intern and early in career community. I’ve made really great friends and learnt a lot about myself; what I’m good at and what I could work on. The project I’m most proud of is the ‘Women in Tech’ day I co-organised, where we invited 30 undergraduates to learn more about Microsoft. We received some really great feedback and inspired people to apply for the internship!

About the author

The post A day in the life of a Cloud Solution Architect appeared first on Microsoft Industry Blogs - United Kingdom.

Tell us a little about yourself

I live for adventure! Living just outside the Lake District, I get to explore the mountains and valleys with my sidekick, Robin the sprocker. I joined Microsoft just over 10 years ago on their graduate programme. I have always strived to work on projects focussed on where technology and social impact meet. My role at Microsoft allows me to work with a wide variety of organisations and individuals. From charities, think tanks, and start-ups to our own employees – all whom are looking to change the world with tech.

What is AI for Good?

AI for Good is our five-year commitment to tackling global issues leveraging the power of AI. We have already committed $115 million, a figure that’s still growing, in three key areas: AI for Humanitarian Action, AI for Accessibility, and AI for Earth. We want to work with organisations across the globe who are building AI solutions which are designed to assist humanity and are underpinned by ethical ideals that are rooted in societal values.

AI will be in our future. Therefore, it is important that we collectively develop and deploy AI in a responsible way that builds trust.
To do this, we are guided by a set of design principles. We need to ensure AI systems are: fair, reliable and safe, private and secure, inclusive, transparent and accountable.

[msce_cta layout=”image_center” align=”center” linktype=”blue” imageurl=”http://approjects.co.za/?big=en-gb/industry/blog/wp-content/uploads/sites/22/2018/12/AI-1024.png” linkurl=”http://approjects.co.za/?big=en-gb/ai/ai-for-good” linkscreenreadertext=”Find out more about AI for Good” linktext=”Find out more about AI for Good” imageid=”5437″ ][/msce_cta]

What is AI for Accessibility?

AI for Accessibility aims to accelerate the development of accessible and intelligent AI solutions. Building on recent advancements in Microsoft Cognitive Services, it helps developers create intelligent apps that see, hear, speak, understand, and better interpret people’s needs.

This programme is a call to action for developers, charities, academics, researchers, and inventors to bring their ideas to the next level! This five year, $25 million grant commitment will help us harness the power of AI to amplify human capability. It will create new and develop existing tools that support independence and productivity, as technology rapidly changes the way we live, learn, and work.

This programme will focus on three main challenges: employment, daily life, and communication and connection.

• • Employment: The unemployment rate for people with disabilities is more than double that of people without. We see opportunities in using AI to help people develop more advanced skills in the workplace and evolve the culture around inclusive hiring.
  • Daily life: We see great opportunities in building modern solutions for people with disabilities by making software and devices smarter and more contextually relevant.
  • Communication and connection: Communication is fundamental to providing equal access to information and opportunities. Lack of options excludes some from employment and society. Technology can create new possibilities regardless of how a person listens, speaks, or writes.

[msce_cta layout=”image_center” align=”center” linktype=”blue” imageurl=”http://approjects.co.za/?big=en-gb/industry/blog/wp-content/uploads/sites/22/2018/11/Disability-and-accessibility.png” linkurl=”http://approjects.co.za/?big=en-us/ai/ai-for-accessibility” linkscreenreadertext=”Explore more about AI for Accessibility here” linktext=”Explore more about AI for Accessibility here” imageid=”5521″ ][/msce_cta]

Why is diversity and inclusion important in AI, specifically with regards to Accessibility?

Have you ever created a colour coded Excel spreadsheet with the common red, orange, and green design and sent it to somebody? Do you know that your customer or colleague may be colourblind? They could be interpreting that spreadsheet in a VERY different way to your expectations.

Disabilities come in many forms – both visible and unseen. In fact 70 percent of disabilities are invisible. The need for accessible technology is growing and must include everybody in its design. We bring this to life through our Inclusive Design Principles.

Inclusive design is the design of an environment, product, or service so that it can be accessed and used by as many people as possible – regardless of age, gender, and disability.

A mobile app designed for someone who is blind, could also be useful to someone who has full hands and needs to send a text message.

A person who is hard of hearing could benefit from closed captions on a video. But so would a person in a noisy environment.

[msce_cta layout=”image_center” align=”center” linktype=”blue” imageurl=”http://approjects.co.za/?big=en-gb/industry/blog/wp-content/uploads/sites/22/2019/03/inclusive.png” linkurl=”http://approjects.co.za/?big=design/inclusive/” linkscreenreadertext=”Find out more about inclusive design” linktext=”Find out more about inclusive design” imageid=”8935″ ][/msce_cta]

Why is diversity and inclusion (D&I) important to you?

Throughout my life, I have always been engaged in male-dominated environments: playing women’s rugby, studying sports science at university and now working within technology. Throughout all of these experiences, I have been lucky enough to be exposed to inclusive, forward thinking, and diverse leaders. They believe in equal opportunity and hearing everyone’s voice, allowing myself and other women to excel.

However, being lucky should not be the way we describe this type of support for any D&I area. It should not be potluck as to who you are employed by or work with.

D&I should be a priority for any leader or employee – with everyone showing leadership and holding themselves accountable. This is currently not the case and that’s why it is important to me that D&I principles are talked about and raised at any suitable opportunity – for those who do have a voice to use their influence and encourage others to engage in conversation and take action.

How do you see technology helping to increase D&I in the workplace?

The answer to this is simple: AI can help increase D&I in the workplace by offering new and previously unthought of solutions to inclusive working practices. Enabling those who previously lacked a voice to have one and those who were previously excluded to now be included and embraced

An example of this is our Microsoft Presentation Translator now embedded within Powerpoint. There is now no excuse to not deliver live captioning in presentations to support those who are hard of hearing – or indeed those for whom English is not their first language.

What can we expect from the event?

I am hoping for a truly inspiring conversation on the 28th March – in fact multiple inspiring conversations! There are many active thinkers, organisations and charities in the accessibility space. I am delighted our data team wants to create an opportunity to bring many of them together. We will also have three of our UK AI for Good UK startups sharing their stories.

We will challenge some thinking in this area, showcase some best practice and have the opportunity to explore new ideas for a more inclusive, ethical and accessible AI future.

AI for Accessibility

Thank you so much for that insight Eve! As we have now learnt, diversity and inclusion is something we should all be thinking about. AI is being used to do amazing things in the accessibility space, and we will showcase some exciting examples of this at our event. You can expect to hear from experts in the field, as well as the opportunity to take part in some interactive demos.

We hope to see you at our free AI for Accessibility event on March 28. Sign up now to secure your place!

Find out more

Join us for our AI in Accessibility event

The post Using AI to shape an inclusive future for all appeared first on Microsoft Industry Blogs - United Kingdom.

Almost every single day, stories about AI dominate the news headlines. From driver-less cars to workplace transformation and helping teams achieve more by working smarter together. But for us, it’s not just about the technology.

AI does some amazing things. However, it’s essential that we don’t fall into the trap of making things better and faster without considering the consequences of our developments. After all, if we do nothing to ensure that AI is safe, aligned to human values, and free from bias, then it has the potential to do more harm than good.

It only seemed logical for us, as a leading technology company, to hold a meetup to share some guidance around how to implement bias-free AI and why it’s so important. Pratim Das, Head of Solutions Architecture, Data, and AI at Microsoft’s Customer Success Unit, and Ben Gilburt, Digital Horizon Lead at Sopra Steria, led some fascinating discussions about the ethics of AI and technology.

I wanted to share some of the learnings I took away with me from the event.

1. Biased data = biased results

Pratim talked about the importance of diverse and inclusive data. His key message was that training machine learning applications on biased data will get biased results.

He also listed the six key factors you must consider when designing AI:

To go deeper into each of these areas and get some practical advice for how to build an ethical framework in AI, I’d strongly recommend you read Pratim’s blog.

2. Program AI to behave as we want it to, not how we tell it to

Ben continued this train of thought. He mentioned a few examples where technology failed to be neutral, such as inappropriate ‘recommended products’ as a result of online shopping algorithms. He talked about building AI with indirect normativity and coherent extrapolated volition. This takes advantage of AI to deliver outcomes we may not see. In simple terms, rather than building AI with our own desires which can be driven by selfish motivations, we should program it to behave how we would want it to behave.

Ben explains it like this: “Do what we would do if we were the type of people we wanted to be; if we had grown up together, and had convergent values.”

3. The need for diversity and inclusion in technology development

An algorithm is only as good as the data it has. Dr Allison Gardner, co-founder of Women Leading in AI, took us through the history of women in programming. Women were at the forefront of programming until it became a well-paid and attractive career. The lack of diversity in people who are creating our machine learning models and algorithms means that unconscious bias is present, therefore creating bias models.

Dr Gardner talked about how having a lack of diversity and inclusion at all stages of technology development results in unconscious bias. These biases are then at risk of exacerbating societal biases and embedding inequality in our systems.

“We need to be really honest about why the lack of diversity, particularly with women, has occurred. If we don’t, we are not going to change it,” she says.

It’s hugely important to change the culture around how computer science is taught and recruited.

“We also need to regulate the algorithm. We’re coming in with regulation, GDPR, and algorithmic impact assessments which will ensure that we have diversity,” she says. “

Dr Gardner’s session showed me that if we don’t actively think about diversity, our models have the potential to exacerbate bias in society.

4. Ethics built in by design

“We should work with people with different backgrounds and skills. This will give us a good chance of preempting any bias,” says Amy Boyd. “Do the proof of concept early, and test as widely as you can.” This was the advice Amy offered us. As a Cloud Developer Advocate in AI and Machine Learning, Amy has a lot of experience in dealing with data.

Amy talked about one of her projects where she analysed tweets to predict the winner of The X Factor each week. She tried to gauge positive or negative tweets using emojis. What she found, however, was that if she didn’t keep an eye on the data and monitor it, it would often produce bias results. If you concentrate on building non-bias models, you will ensure your data remains ethical, and produce better results for all.

5. Using Shakespeare to explore bias

Richard Potter, CTO of Microsoft Services, took the session down a more theatrical route. He used Shakespeare’s plays to demonstrate the different types of bias in AI.

Sounds weird, right? And why Shakespeare? Different stories represent different types of bias, which connect to real-world examples of bias in AI and data. To really bring this to life, Richard got the volunteers from the audience to act out scenes from the Bard’s most famous plays.

Twelfth Night represents pre-existing bias in gender stereotyping and a narrow world-view, which we still see today. What we learn from Twelfth Night is if we addressed this pre-existing bias by inclusive design and impact evaluations, we’d understand the whole picture better. We’d also reach our aims quicker and have better data as a result.

Technical bias from incorrect or non-complete data or a malfunctioning algorithm. And what better play than Hamlet to represent this madness? What Shakespeare is showing us is that the unsoundness of the mind is causing all sorts of chaos. Mix this in with the failure to learn from mistakes and you have a perfect example of technical bias. We can address this by ensuring our AI is well-tested and transparent.

The Bard’s final play, The Tempest, shows us emergent bias. We’re seeing manipulation of characters who then drift into poor outcomes. For example, AI can get manipulated by the very people who it’s supposed to help, like a chatbot who learns bad language from it’s audience. We can address this by ensuring we have ongoing measurement and operational accountability.

Richard’s presentation confirmed to me that bias is everywhere, even in Shakespeare. The end goal is ‘AI for all’ – fair and free of bias.

6. AI applied to specific industries

AI is affecting every organisation. Therefore, ethics needs to be part of the conversation in every industry.

Udai Chilamkurthi, Lead Architect at Sainsbury’s, showed some of the latest AI technology being used in the retail industry. AI can be used to serve customers a great personalised, omni-channel experience. However, it’s important to ensure that this is done with ongoing measurement and with careful consideration. AI doesn’t have the social and emotional intelligence we have. For example, AI might recommend an inappropriate product to a customer a human would know not to.

And last, but certainly not least, was Chiara Garattini, Senior User Researcher at Public Health England. He spoke about AI in medical engineering. It’s incredibly important AI stays ethical in healthcare. It has great capacity to help accurately diagnose and treat patents. But it’s up to us to ensure it is bias-free and works for everyone.

It all comes back to the quality of the data

Interestingly, though none of the speakers had met before, they all came to the same conclusion: AI itself is not the problem, the data we feed it is the problem. Data is reflected by the real world, and if society itself is biased, then how can we hope for truly non-biased data?

Richard sums it up pretty well:

“In the end, it’s all about us. If we can only talk about AI in a technical language, we’ll never achieve what we need to achieve in this space. We need to go beyond our usual narrative forms and find new ways of telling stories to engage everybody in the development of the technology.”

This meetup event was co-hosted in London – Microsoft Data & AI (Pratim Das) and AI Ethics London (Ben Gilburt). To stay up to date on future events please join these groups:

London Microsoft Data and AI

AI Ethics London

About the author

Holly Manley is a Cloud Solution Architect Intern in the Customer Success Unit. She is currently undertaking a placement year as she’s midway through her Biomedical Engineering degree at Aston University. Holly is most interested in AI, anything related to women in tech, and loves attending meetups.

The post 6 learnings from our ethics in AI meetup appeared first on Microsoft Industry Blogs - United Kingdom.