Why I’m Building “The AI Guardrail Podcast”
Reflections on Data Colonialism and why we need to build tech with a conscience.
The TEDx Talk That Started It All
A few years ago, I gave a TEDx talk in Davao City about Colonialism in the Age of AI and Big Data. Just as historical empires once grabbed land and resources, Big Tech now “explores, expands, exploits, and exterminates” using our digital lives as the raw material. We’ve moved from walled cities like Intramuros to “Data Colonies”, the smartphones in our pockets that extract our data to build wealth for an elite few, often without our consent. With the emergence of Generative AI and LLMs, the dangers of tech without guardrails brings even greater risks than ever, at a pace we’ve never seen before.
Why “The AI Guardrail Podcast” Matters Now
The AI Guardrail Podcast is part of my efforts to respond to the need for better safeguards around AI innovation and development. I’m also currently pursuing an MSc in Responsible AI and considering taking up AI Law because I believe we need a new generation of professionals who can act as bridges, able to speak both the language of code and the language of policy.
The AI Guardrail Podcast is a personal journal for:
Engineers who want to rediscover the joy of building solutions through software by restoring tech industry’s conscience and morality.
Business Leaders who want to navigate the evolving AI innovation and regulation landscape and their respective business risks.
Policy Geeks who want to understand the technical reality behind AI governance frameworks like the EU AI Act, NIST, and OECD.
If you’re curious about my TEDx talk that started this journey, where I discuss “digital sweatshops,” algorithmic bias, and why AI queries consume as much water as a bottle of Evian, you can watch the talk below.
No One Has All the Answers
The AI ethics and governance space is still very much a young and emerging discipline. Like everyone else, I’m still learning and trying to make sense of where things are heading, and where things should be headed. Together, let’s try to find a way toward a more equitable digital world in the age of AI.
I’m glad you’re here for the journey. Let’s build some better guardrails.
— Rem Lampa (Kuya Dev)
I fully agree on the need to build AI guardrails as it’s still the Wild West when it comes to this. Almost anything new, radical and revolutionary carries great risks and we’ve seen it in cigarettes industry where vaping was once thought to be great alternative to smoking but now considered equally risky as smoking. Of course, AI is totally of a different category as it can be truly revolutionary in its benefits unlike vaping (which is rather a poor analogy from the benefits point of view), but the message is just the same — we can’t afford to wait till something bad happens as that might be too late. So, thanks for your initiative, Ar-Em “Kuya Dev” 😊