Dogs, Wolves, Accessibility & AI with Dr. Mahadeo Sukhai

Cross-polliNation

What do dogs & wolves have to do with AI? How can AI help or hinder accessibility & how it can be trained well? Dr. Mahadeo Sukhai, VP of Research at CNIB (Canadian National Institute for the Blind) chats on understanding the lived experiences of people with disabilities, systemic barriers in an ableist world & what’s needed to make tech & the world more accessible.

Episode transcript

Highlights

• Dr. Sukhai’s career as a geneticist, a unicorn and a transition to research on health services outcomes, public health and systemic barriers
• Defining disability - what is a disability?
• What are interventions that can help reduce barriers to employment and education?
• The accessibility benefits of AI when well trained and the pitfalls when it's not
• Why including persons with disabilities in the design process can help mitigate biases in AI training and technology design
• What technology designers should consider when it comes to accessibility

Links: CNIB, Dr. Sukhai’s book on accessibility and higher education in the sciences and his thoughts on universal design, assistive technology and why we’re all users of it in the article Good Ingredients for Assistive Technology.