AI for Equity

Many AI models are built with Western food in mind, so what happens when you show one a plate of Ghanaian food? Leah and Jenny sit down with Silas Bempong, an AI engineer in Ghana, to find out.Silas left a stable job as a data scientist in banking because he wanted to work with the latest technology. His work now centres on an AI model that analyses a photo of a meal and gives nutritional insights, which came out of a partnership with the Noguchi Memorial Institute. Traditional dietary assessment is expensive because a dietitian has to follow someone around and measure every ingredient in their food. Silas’s team wanted people to be able to take a photo instead.Then there was the challenge of Ghanaian dishes, where it is hard for a model to tell where the rice ends and the beans begin. Silas talks about adapting the technology for local food, how multimodal AI improved its accuracy, and who gets left out when AI isn’t built with Africa in mind.In this episode:Why Silas left banking to work in AIHow a photo of a meal can give nutritional insightsWhy Ghanaian food is so difficult for AI to readWhat multimodal AI is and how it helpedWhy AI needs to be built for local contextsGet the book:Bookshop: https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/ai-for-equity-creating-a-more-equitable-society-for-all-jenny-obe-garrett/586c7c50e50b5e55?ean=9781837428571Waterstones: https://www.waterstones.com/book/ai-for-equity/jenny-garrett/leah-sunshine-garrett/9781837428571Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/AI-Equity-Creating-Equitable-Society/dp/1837428573Come to a launch:Manchester, Tue 10 Nov, The Portico Library: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/ai-for-equity-who-is-it-actually-built-for-tickets-2000640564785London, Thu 12 Nov, University of Westminster: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/ai-for-equity-book-launch-london-tickets-1997144173986Accra, 22 to 28 Nov, and the San Francisco Bay Area, 15 to 19 Mar 2027. All tour dates: https://jennygarrett.global/ai-for-equity/Want to be a guest? https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScDrKnarbBmYZFUueLBsPlpRGArBwOA5pxUeENCtrKnMYbS2g/viewform?usp=headerPartners and sponsors: [email protected]#AIforEquity #ResponsibleAI #AIinAfrica #AIPodcast

AI for Equity is out. This episode is the full recording of our online launch on publication day, 27 October 2026, with Jenny Garrett OBE and Leah Garrett, hosted by Erica Farmer.The book is AI for Equity: Creating a More Equitable Society for All. It looks at who AI is being built for, who gets left out, and what it would take to build it differently. If you missed the launch, this is the whole thing, as it happened.Thank you to Erica for hosting us, and to the twelve people whose stories and work run through this book: Dr Mona Ashok, Christian Ortiz, Jazz Rasool, Sumathi Menon, Dan Gallagher, Twan Wildeboer, Keshav Malhotra, Dr Pauldy Otermans, Sam Samarasinghe, Anna Jones, Rodney A. Brown and Finbar O’Hanlon. And thank you to everyone who has supported us along the way. We could not have done it without you.Get the book:Bookshop: https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/ai-for-equity-creating-a-more-equitable-society-for-all-jenny-obe-garrett/586c7c50e50b5e55?ean=9781837428571Waterstones: https://www.waterstones.com/book/ai-for-equity/jenny-garrett/leah-sunshine-garrett/9781837428571Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/AI-Equity-Creating-Equitable-Society/dp/1837428573Come to a launch:Manchester, Tue 10 Nov, The Portico Library: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/ai-for-equity-who-is-it-actually-built-for-tickets-2000640564785London, Thu 12 Nov, University of Westminster: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/ai-for-equity-book-launch-london-tickets-1997144173986Accra, 22 to 28 Nov, and the San Francisco Bay Area, 15 to 19 Mar 2027. All tour dates: https://jennygarrett.global/ai-for-equity/Want to be a guest? https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScDrKnarbBmYZFUueLBsPlpRGArBwOA5pxUeENCtrKnMYbS2g/viewform?usp=headerPartners and sponsors: [email protected]#AIforEquity #ResponsibleAI #AIEthics #BookLaunch

The book is out next week, and the tour starts the same day. In this episode Leah and Jenny talk about how it feels to send AI for Equity out into the world, with stops in Manchester, London, Accra and San Francisco, plus an online launch anyone can join from wherever they are.Leah is a little bit scared and very excited, and has never been to the US before. Jenny talks about the fear of being judged and why, if the book helps one person, it has done its job. They also get into why doing it together makes it easier, why the London launch means so much with friends, family and contributors in the room, and how holding the finished copy has settled the nerves.

The book episode. Jenny and Leah share the full story of writing AI for Equity: how the idea grew out of the podcast, what the proposal process actually involved, the day the deal came through, the self-doubt in the middle, and the reader they each kept in mind while writing.In this episode:From podcast to book deal: how it happenedWhat goes into a book proposalWriting to a deadline while running everything elseWho we wrote the book for, and why that matteredAI for Equity is out 27 October 2026. Pre-order now:Bookshop: https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/ai-for-equity-creating-a-more-equitable-society-for-all-jenny-obe-garrett/586c7c50e50b5e55?ean=9781837428571Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/AI-Equity-Creating-Equitable-Society/dp/1837428573Waterstones: https://www.waterstones.com/book/ai-for-equity/jenny-garrett/leah-sunshine-garrett/9781837428571Book tour dates and tickets: https://jennygarrett.global/ai-for-equity/Want to be a guest? Apply here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScDrKnarbBmYZFUueLBsPlpRGArBwOA5pxUeENCtrKnMYbS2g/viewform?usp=headerPartnerships: [email protected]

Recorded live, this episode is a letter to our Series 1 selves. Jenny and Leah look back at what they thought the podcast was for when they started, the questions they were too polite to ask, the episode they'd re-record, and what it's actually like working together as mother and daughter. Along the way they get to the moment the conversation itself became the learning, which is where the title of their book comes from. AI for Equity, the book, is out on 27 October. The episode ends with one line of advice each for anyone sitting at their own Series 1, about to start something they don't feel ready for.

What makes us tick? In a world increasingly shaped by artificial intelligence, how do we hold on to the essence of being human?In this episode, Leah Garrett and Jenny Garrett OBE are joined by Fabiola Williams for a conversation about technology and human emotion. Fabiola reflects on how AI interacts with our emotional wellbeing, reminding us that AI is one big part of many things, alongside growing up, illness, disability and loss. Together they explore how young professionals can support themselves in an ever-changing world of work, why we should question AI outputs rather than trust them blindly, and why sense-making is slow, iterative work that can't be done alone.📖 Our book, AI for Equity: Creating a More Equitable Society for All, is out on 27 October with Emerald Publishing. Pre-order your copy now:Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/AI-Equity-Creating-Equitable-Society/dp/1837428573Bookshop: https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/ai-for-equity-creating-a-more-equitable-society-for-all-jenny-obe-garrett/586c7c50e50b5e55?ean=9781837428571Waterstones: https://www.waterstones.com/book/ai-for-equity/jenny-garrett/leah-sunshine-garrett/9781837428571Want to be a guest on AI for Equity? Apply here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScDrKnarbBmYZFUueLBsPlpRGArBwOA5pxUeENCtrKnMYbS2g/viewform?usp=header

AI didn't arrive three years ago. It's been decades in the making, and Dr Salim Sheikh has been there for most of it.Salim has worked in AI and software engineering for over 30 years, starting in the 1990s when the field was still largely academic. In this episode he joins Jenny Garrett OBE and Leah Garrett to unpack the real history behind today's AI boom, why the pandemic accelerated adoption faster than anyone expected, and why AI literacy is the skill we all need now.We also get into the balancing act at the heart of it all: keeping technology as the facilitator and human creativity, wellbeing and decision-making as the driving force. As Salim puts it, AI should amplify human potential, not replace it.📚 Our book AI for Equity (Emerald Publishing) is out 27 October 2026. Pre-order now:Bookshop: https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/ai-for-equity-creating-a-more-equitable-society-for-all-jenny-obe-garrett/586c7c50e50b5e55?ean=9781837428571Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/AI-Equity-Creating-Equitable-Society/dp/1837428573Waterstones: https://www.waterstones.com/book/ai-for-equity/jenny-garrett/leah-sunshine-garrett/9781837428571Want to be a guest or partner with us? Email [email protected] us: @leahsrg and @coachjennygarrett

When AI saves you time, where does that time actually go?In this episode, Leah and Jenny talk to Rachel Seftel, Head of Research and Impact at the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women. Rachel is the first to admit she's no tech enthusiast. She got into AI for one reason: she hates wasted time. That led to the RachelBot, her personal experiment in automating everything from scheduling appointments to checking her son's homework.But this conversation goes far beyond personal productivity. Rachel shares findings from the Foundation's research with over 3,000 women entrepreneurs, almost all of whom were balancing their businesses with caregiving. The headline finding: when AI saves women time, that time doesn't automatically become free time or growth time. It gets reabsorbed into everything that was already waiting for them.We also dig into why adoption numbers can be misleading. AI use among women entrepreneurs jumped from 38% to 82% in a year, but Rachel argues the more important question is whether that use is meaningful, sustained and actually changes the fundamentals of a business.📚 Our book, AI for Equity (Emerald Publishing), is out on 27 October 2026. Pre-order your copy now:Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/AI-Equity-Creating-Equitable-Society/dp/1837428573Waterstones: https://www.waterstones.com/book/ai-for-equity/jenny-garrett/leah-sunshine-garrett/9781837428571Bookshop.org: https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/ai-for-equity-creating-a-more-equitable-society-for-all-jenny-obe-garrett/586c7c50e50b5e55?ean=9781837428571Want to be a guest on the podcast? Apply here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScDrKnarbBmYZFUueLBsPlpRGArBwOA5pxUeENCtrKnMYbS2g/viewform?usp=headerGet in touch: [email protected]

What if AI's most powerful defence application isn't fighting wars, but preventing them?In this episode of AI for Equity, Jenny Garrett OBE and Leah Garrett are joined by Melanie Garson, Associate Professor at University College London and expert in international security and conflict resolution. Melanie challenges the dominant narrative around AI and defence, making the case for "peace tech": technology designed to stabilise societies, forecast conflict, and rebuild after war.In this episode:Peace tech vs defence tech, and why the distinction mattersHow innovation ecosystems bring governments, industry and civil society together for conflict preventionThe dual use dilemma: the same drone that surveils can deliver vaccinesAI's role in post conflict reconstruction, coordinating housing, healthcare and law enforcement dataThe ethical trade offs: privacy, surveillance, and how much we're willing to give up for securityMelanie Garson brings extensive experience in international security and conflict resolution to a conversation that will change how you think about technology's role in peace.🎧 Subscribe to AI for Equity for conversations at the intersection of AI, ethics and social impact.Pre-order AI for Equity, the book by Jenny Garrett OBE and Leah Garrett, is out 27 October 2026! #AIforEquity #PeaceTech #ArtificialIntelligence #ConflictResolution

Claire Roberts has spent twenty five years in technology strategy and transformation, most of it as one of the only women in the room. She got in without a degree, on the strength of being more useful than anyone else in the building.In this conversation with Jenny Garrett OBE and Leah Garrett, she talks about what she saw when a major AI engineering company quietly let its diversity commitments slide once the external pressure changed direction, why researcher Sarah Weier's experiment on how models answer questions about women should worry us more than it does, and why the uncomfortable finding is not about the technology at all. The bias is not programmed in. It is in the record we left behind, and the model is reading it back to us.She also makes the case for AI as a thought partner rather than a replacement, in healthcare, in engineering, and in the ordinary work most of us do every day. Her instruction is simple and harder than it sounds: don't outsource your thinking, use it to improve your thinking.In this episode:Getting into tech without a degree, and what usefulness actually buys youBeing the only woman in the room for twenty five yearsWhat happened when diversity commitments met commercial pressureSarah Weier's experiment and what the training data revealedUsing AI to sharpen judgement instead of replacing itThe AI for Equity podcast, hosted by Jenny Garrett OBE and Leah Garrett.