CODEX
Human Before Artificial: Thoughts on Rana el Kaliouby’s “Girl Decoded”
Part memoir, part journal of scientific discovery, Rana el Kaliouby’s book, “Girl Decoded: A Scientist’s Quest to Reclaim Our Humanity by Bringing Emotional Intelligence to Technology”, details her journey as a young computer scientist with a desire to teach human emotion to computers in the early 2000s, when such a thing was thought impossible.
The UXer in me chose this book out of curiosity, wanting to educate myself about emotional intelligence. What I didn’t realize at the start was how deeply the author’s background as an Arab-American and Muslim woman, and navigation between the complex cultural worlds that make up her identity, would resonate with me.
4 Takeaways
As the book weaved in and out of el Kaliouby’s life, four lessons stood out to me again and again.
1. Diversity leads to new & profound solutions.
At the start of her career, el Kaliouby’s idea to bring the “e” word (emotion) into technology was met with doubt. She had to convince tough audiences that her ideas were valid and worthwhile. Later in her career, she describes the multicultural, interdisciplinary teams she was part of at MIT and at her startup, Affectiva, and how teams of unique perspectives lead to resilient technology able to serve more diverse people. As noted by a growing number of designers, designing for accessibility improves experiences for everyone. As she says in the book, “At some point in our lives, many of us could use an ‘emotion prosthetic’ to help us maneuver through a difficult time…”, whether we are dealing with a temporary or permanent impairment.
“Our algorithms must work on people from all walks of life, of all complexions, genders, ages and ethnic group. And our algorithms must be used to help improve human life and solve some of the long-standing problems … for people whose needs have been overlooked” (Girl Decoded, page 225).
2. Technology is agnostic. It’s what we do with it that matters.
Early on, Affectiva received a proposal from a government agency to use emotion-AI technology for surveillance. On the other hand, people studying autism wanted to use the technology to level playing fields and make communication easier for people who struggle with socializing, and marketing agencies wanted to use it to develop a deeper understanding of their customers’ needs. El Kaliouby chose only to partake in ethical applications of her technology, despite initially making less money with those types of deals. Technology has been used to tamper with elections, and promote bias on social media. At the same time, it is being used to identify early signs of Parkinson's and other neurological diseases, help people on the autism spectrum learn to interpret social cues, and more. It is up to you and me to choose ethical uses for technology as creators and consumers.
“Today, consumers have the ability to support ‘ethically sourced’ and ‘sustainable’ products… So, why not add another industry to the list of companies that follow ethical and sustainable practices? Ethical technology” (Girl Decoded, page 304).
3. “Human Before Artificial”.
In her TED talk in 2015, el Kaliouby shared that her focus is to bring emotion into technology, embracing the fact that technology has become part of our everyday lives. Her mission of “humanizing technology before it dehumanizes us” is reiterated throughout the book. Using Baron-Cohen’s 412 emotions as a basis, el Kaliouby trained her algorithm to recognize emotion by narrowing down to six categories of mental states: agreeing, concentrating, disagreeing, interest, thinking, and unsure, which she describes as the “fundamentals” of EQ.
“[Emotion-AI] doesn’t take away from our other strengths, but adds to our abilities” (Girl Decoded, page 102).
4. When you do things for the right reasons, good will come out of it.
When el Kaliouby and co-founder Roz Picard received a $40 million investment proposal from a government intelligence agency it was difficult to turn down, but they chose to stick to their core values. Seven days before the company would run out of cash, unsure if they would be able to write their employees' next paychecks, a client that supported Affectiva’s respect for user privacy signed on for a $7 million investment.
“Not as much as forty million, but enough to give us the extra runway we needed. More important, we would be working with partners we loved and who were aligned with our mission and our core values” (Girl Decoded, page 184).
On more than one occasion, el Kaliouby stood by strong morals and a mission to create technology that respects people, even when the payoff was not immediately apparent. Her actions are an inspiring example of an outlook that is heavily emphasized in Islam, explained in this Hadith (narrated tradition) from the prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him.
“Verily, you will never leave anything for the sake of God but that God will replace it with something better” [Source: Musnad Aḥmad 22565].
Closing Thoughts
In addition to her compelling arguments for humanizing technology, el Kaliouby’s openness about her life adds a deeper layer to the book and further illustrates the value found in embracing emotion.
“When I first set out to write Girl Decoded, my goal was to evangelize human-centric technology and advance the AI industry. But as I reflected on my path to humanize technology, I realized that my professional mission was so closely tied to my own personal journey, and that I had a more universal story to share about perseverance and embracing your emotions” — Rana el Kaliouby, in an interview with Andrew Sears.
As a second-generation Arab American, and also a practicing Muslim, I am so glad she decided to include her personal life journey and emotions in the book rather than exclusively focusing on her scientific achievements. This decision allowed me to truly connect with her, and I’m sure many others will feel the same way after reading the book.
While I don’t relate to all of her experiences, many of her challenges balancing the things she loves about her Arab roots while also working to overcome cultural stigmas hit home.
El Kaliouby’s emotional, authentic story fills a much-needed space within the tech industry. She serves as an inspiration and role model for all women, while also providing representation and space for Arab and Muslim women to feel heard and understood, and comfort that we are not alone in our journeys.
Thank you Rana el Kaliouby for being fearless and sharing your story.
TLDR; if emotional intelligence, using technology for good, and inspiring stories interest you, give Girl Decoded a read. You won’t regret it.
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