Dive In | Multi-colored Art & Tech Career with ChaVon Clarke-Joell

When childhood wonder meets the cutting edge of technology, you find yourself in the world of ChaVon Clarke-Joell. Her story is an adventure through the vibrant crossroads of art and AI ethics—a journey she shares with us, revealing the unexpected connections between her early inspirations from television classics, such as Fraggle Rock and the Jetsons, and her ascension as a Bermudian woman in data protection. As Ms. Clarke-Joell weaves her poetry and playwriting with technological savvy, she demonstrates the magnetic force of combining one's passions to build a multi-hued career.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Hey there, sam Enthusiasts. Welcome back to Cameron's Lab. Dive In the go-to podcast for Sam students. Craft it with passion by one of your own. I'm Cameron, your enthusiastic and ever-curious host. Buckle up for today's insightful episode, ready to dive in?

Speaker 2: 0:18

Hi everyone welcome back to Cameron's Lab. Today, I am happy to be joined by Ms Siobhan Clark-Jull. She's a fellow Bermudian, so I'm really excited to have her today. Just to give you a quick introduction to her she is a data protection professional who was recently featured in the 100 Brilliant Women in AI Ethics for 2024. Wow, she has about six years of experience in the field of tech and outside of that, so she's like a double-edged sword. She also is very involved in the arts, so she mentioned before that she's also looking at playwriting. She has her Masters of Arts from Kingston University and also so much more experience there. I'm really excited to learn about that as well. So, ms Clark-Jull, thank you so much for joining me. I'm really excited to have you. Thank you.

Speaker 3: 1:01

I'm excited to be here.

Speaker 2: 1:04

So I did want to kind of start off with what you mentioned before, so looking at this double-edged sword, like I mentioned, of doing arts and technology at the same time.

Speaker 3: 1:13

so if you wouldn't mind explaining a little bit more about what you do, yeah, so when I think of the age of AI, I think of it as a time when we need to marry arts and science, and that's something that has been staple in my life, for my entire life, to be honest, when I think of my career, and so I talk quite a bit about mapping our journey, and so if I look at the early child and I think of shows like I don't know if you remember, because I may show my age here a little, but it's okay but Fragile Rock I don't know if you've heard of Fragile Rock. Well, if you know Muppets or the Muppet Cades, yeah, it's like a step above the Muppet, but anyway, fragile Rock was a popular cartball, not really a cartoon, but a Muppet shit. When I was a child and Fragile Rock had a female character that went by the name of Red. Red was outspoken, adventurous, she was ahead of her time in terms of females and having a voice. And so for me number two to my mom, who's also a strong female, red really helped me to start forming a voice that early and to understand how arts and technology through the television at that start right, how it could come to life, right.

Speaker 3: 2:52

And then, as I continued, on cartoons that also are staple in my childhood the Jetsuits. You know, I'm sure you know of the Jetsuits. Yes, I think that's right. But one thing I'll be so familiar with was called Galaxy High School. Now the Jetsuits, you can already connect the dots. Right, it was an intro to technology in mainstream through this cartoon and so really being able to see robots coming to life and you know it's the made robot and virtual conversations with Jen and her husband and, you know, flying around in space, maybe all the things of that sort. That was exciting to me. So, whereas some young people might have gravitated towards the Flintstones, I was more for the Jetsuits. So the Flintstones is a more primitive type of what it was like yesterday year. Now Galaxy High School takes it to another level and this is going to start connecting a bit of dots with my background. So Galaxy High School you can already imagine it was intergalactic. It was, you know. So diversity and inclusion 2.0, right, it was all thoughts of lives that were two different Learning from each other. It wasn't called AI technology in the mainstream back then, but examples of that in education was prevalent. In this show Like it was a lot of exposure to what the world would look like through the eyes of a student and through learning, and so, you know, these are things that kind of started to wet my palate, so to speak, when it comes to technology as well as art, but I didn't know at the time that that would form. You know who I am today and what I do today. The work that I do today is a bridge between data protection, artificial intelligence, more so around the realm of ethics, and so I entered AI through data protection.

Speaker 3: 5:07

While living in the UK, I worked at a law firm. They sent me on to do GDPR and I became a GDPR practitioner and, of course, this general data protection regulation, and so from there I left that law firm and I started in consultancy. I worked with small, mid-sized and large sort of nationwide businesses or national businesses, and so one of the staples of my career, believe it or not, was an experience working with a Bermudian connected tattoo parlor in Birmingham. It was a small mom and pop type of shop, as you can imagine, and this creative studio. I worked very closely with them, you know, with training around data protection, helping them to really put some understanding around how how many risks could come into their establishment.

Speaker 3: 6:09

So really marrying art and technology in that way and that's why it was, you know, one of the most exciting pieces of work that I've done, because I'm an artsy person, as you mentioned. You know, I wrote my first song around eight years of age. I'm a poet, playwright, I've published books and I've had numerous stories in the world. There's that Christmas story. I've been, I received the Crystal Butterfly Artist Award in Bermuda for female artists and that was a huge honor because it was alongside some really magnificent female voices in Bermuda, literary voices in Bermuda.

Speaker 3: 6:54

I think what really made my work stand out was that it was the first piece of work. It was called Burmichick Chronicles, was sort of the series, and it was a series of books that was very down to earth, very much in your face, which is the type of writer I am. My plays, my poems, everything is straightforward, that's just how I am and so, yeah, like this series of books at the time there was no local books that really spoke about social ills in Bermuda and so, leaning on my psychology background cognitive neuroscience and criminal justice it certainly kind of paged the way with a lot of the work that I've done. So, whether that's in the artsy side or if it's more to do with technology. Artsy science is everything in this day and age, so true.

Speaker 2: 7:54

I like what you said at the beginning about looking at the Jetsons and just being introduced to that futuristic next-level kind of technology is really what inspired you to be able to merge both of those. I think I had similar experiences with my grandfather, kenyatta Young for those who don't know, trade unionists. He would always introduce me to Star Wars and show me all the movies, and then he would have me follow him around the house of a screwdriver. I'm just like, okay, paul, I'm changing that out like a bird, and that's why now I do engineering.

Speaker 3: 8:21

We're two things gems, breadcrumbs, little things that we learn, and that's what I mean by mapping our journey.

Speaker 3: 8:30

Often we get to a place in our lives where we don't know what we want to do next or where we're stuck. Many students are listening, and I worked as student recruitment officer at Bermuda College for five and a half years and I worked at King's College London as the postgraduate program manager and so working with students I'm quite familiar and comfortable with, and I know that what we study in university may not be our career. Like I said, I studied psychology, criminal justice, cognitive neuroscience, believing I would be a forensic psychologist. It didn't happen, it just was not in the cards for me. But instead I can now take the arts and science, which, of course, that falls under liberal arts or arts and science. I can take that knowledge and apply it as an AI ethicist, if you see what I mean. And so nothing is erased. But if you want to figure out what your life's purpose, go back and map some of your experiences and start at child, you know, with childhood.

Speaker 2: 9:33

I like that. Go back to Macbier. Experience is write that one down everyone. That's a good call to later, that's actually perfect, especially at the end. I like tell you were talking about you know that, that art degree and how you were bringing in your own voice, that impactful voice of not, I guess, shying away from the topics that most people might say maybe I shouldn't talk about that You're like no impact, like we need to bring it to the lights. I really appreciate that about yourself.

Speaker 3: 9:58

I've always been about giving people a voice. I have a big voice, right. Like I said, I was young and, and you know, spotlight person. Not that I felt comfortable, but sometimes you don't feel comfortable, but you keep getting pulled into this direction and you decide to realize that it's bigger than your comfort, is what you're meant to do, right and so for for me, having a big voice and knowing and understanding and loving and and Learning people who don't have such a big voice. I think I have a have worked to do if that makes sense, and that is everything, even Leading to the AI ethicist. You know ethics work that I do.

Speaker 2: 10:39

Yeah, and you know the AI ethicist that you do. Now I'd actually want to act to a little bit more about your work now. So from your very long, might I say, least in experience list, I wanted to actually a bit more about the cyber security, gdpr Kind of side of everything. I only recently started getting into AI ethics thanks to miss Anna Bullack, an episode we had previously quick plug, if you want to go looking through that, but, um, so, just kind of learning a little bit more. So if you wouldn't mind describing your experience of how you started getting into that, especially moving from, like you said, psychology, that whole neuroscience, forensic psychologist, how did you go into then AI ethics and security?

Speaker 3: 11:17

Yeah, yeah, I mean, the first thing that I would say is your undergraduate degree is just a stepping stone for life's, for your careers in life, right, transferable skills is what you always need to think about. So I kind of put aside criminal justice, cognitive neuroscience for a period of time and I really leaned on psychology, because psychology, it has a lot of Opportunity in it, right, no matter what you do, if you work in customer service, there is a bit of psychology if you work in operations, which is where I did quite a bit of of work in experience. And so what happened with me is, after finishing my undergraduate degree, I was kind of promised an opportunity that fell through and so you know you can only sit for so long Look in your room especially as a single parent. So I had a I had a little kid at the time and Reality set in. So I started taking roles because I needed to pay bills, but I only gave every role around two, two and a half years. The longest role was Bermuda College, as I mentioned, as student recruitment officer, because I loved the idea of Inspiring and it's an empowering other people. I am a lifelong learner. Anyone who looks on my LinkedIn, they could see how many certifications I've done, and there's a whole story about that. It's just been wide open. So that's a lesson in whatever life throws you, wherever you find yourself, make it work.

Speaker 3: 12:50

So, bringing it back to the topic of career, my psychology, I embarked on numerous work experiences Going into moving to the UK. I First did my master's degree in playwriting. Again, I'm through Kingston University, london. I wanted to do my first degree was for the purpose of profession and it didn't work out the way I thought it would. So my second degree I wanted to do something I loved. I said you know what I want to be passionate about it. And so I embarked on it, on a degree in playwriting. Now I don't write plays on a regular basis. That was never my passion or interest camp. Instead it was really around understanding people because, remember, I'm a people person, so then you're a playwright.

Speaker 3: 13:38

The things that I've been able to kind of grab and transfer into my career projection has been things like understanding creative ways of communicating with people, of Valgarizing information or taking complex information and simplifying it. You would do that right. Learning how to write briefs In playwriting it's very technical writing, so Understanding those dynamics have been Instrumental in my career in data protection, as well as, like I said, being agile, being nimble. This is what you need to be as a as a professional leader in this day and age, and let's not forget the diversity and inclusion that any type of art degree would bring to someone. My son is studying his master's degree in dance movement psycho there. So this belief of using art as a form of healing and as a way of expression and teaching and growing Is something that I believe and I encourage any young person if they have an artsy background. Don't ignore it and think you have to put it aside for a more you know, stem type of career. Think about how you're gonna merge it because, like I said, that is a skill for now and for the future.

Speaker 3: 14:53

Going into GDPR was through the law firm, as I mentioned. They sent me off. I thought nothing of it other than opportunity, because I always think of you know how can I make this work? And so I went off and it was an aha moment camp. It was a moment that I realized every bit of experience in banking, in our pharmaceutical shipping, on supply chain management, in in Insurance I work for a stint at an insurance firm and, yes, in education, how all of that bring it together, how this makes sense. In data protection, right, because I could go into data protection and I can tell you in a heartbeat, across numerous industries where the risks lie, how can they be creative to address certain dynamics in an industry and the size of an organization, because I've worked for small organizations, like I said, to larger entities. I've also been an entrepreneur. I've had three businesses. The last business was called TLC Group of Companies and it's based on cybersecurity and data protection.

Speaker 3: 16:09

So then I was in the UK, like I said, I went into GDPR. I did a bit of time as a consultant, gaming experience, the large multinational company. They had a number of hotels, restaurants, guest houses, apartment buildings, and so my role and it was all across the UK and Ireland, and so my role was to one, develop a robust data protection framework for the entire entity. Two, to train every individual that worked in the UK and all of those entities. I got a lot of experience training. I also had to create maps for each entity because, remember, they stand alone, even though they're under the umbrella of the company, but they would have stood alone the restaurants, the apartment buildings, these hotels and they would purchase great buildings, gorgeous old antique buildings, and convert them into these more modern uses, and so I gained a lot of experience. They did everything in Hall's Camry everything from social media to the receptionists at the hotels, to the website management, to the architects, the construction workers Everything was in Hall's. They had partnerships with like health care entities, with entertainment agencies, with shelters, like charities, so I literally had an opportunity to stretch my experience across all of these entities.

Speaker 3: 17:55

Coming back to Bermuda for the purpose of being the family, I thought that I would come back and continue my consultancy, but no one knew anything of what I was talking about there. Gdpr was foreign and everyone felt, well, they can't touch me. I'm in Bermuda and I could not get them to understand what extraterritoriality means that if a person is from the UK or lives in the UK and they're in Bermuda, they are protected by GDPR. So even in another country under GDPR, you have to make sure that you have policy in place and operations needs to match that policy. There are a lot of risks by not paying attention to their interoperability, or you know, the I call it like the extra arms of data potential is a lot to pay attention in that space. So I came back to the island and no one knew I was talking about.

Speaker 3: 18:57

I had a reunion girl in Birmingham that reached out and said hey, I do cybersecurity, you do data protection. Why don't we work together? And it was another friend who I used to teach with. So the three of us formed the TLC group and we created, we changed our business model. We had to pivot immediately. So, again, you have to be agile, you have to be nimble in this day and age for yourself as a professional and as a business owner, and so those of individuals looking to do entrepreneurship always think you know, how can you remain as agile and nimble as possible? So anyway, we became more of a training provider. We created Bermuda's first certified privacy officer foundation and practitioner courses, privacy leads and privacy champion courses. We started working with Bermuda's community. I was often called because at the time the Privacy Commissioner's office had not been developed. So I was often called to do a lot of the panels and to give advice around data protection and things of that sort, and we really created a noise in Bermuda. We started advocating for data protection for Bermuda's Piper, because it exists. So a lot of my cybersecurity work and research and study and certification really came around when I started working and partnering with Tahira Label, who is still the CEO and co-founder of the TLC group. She has a very strong she's a CISO, so she has a very strong cybersecurity background.

Speaker 3: 20:36

Very quickly I understood the holistic dynamic of data protection, cybersecurity and data privacy. So I like to say privacy is the legalities, so if you're interested in legal privacy, that's privacy right. Data protection is more of the technical, the practicalities right. How do you put it into practice? And then you have security, so it could be cyber or physical space security, and so these are things that, holistically, every organization needs it, every entrepreneur needs to consider it for their businesses, and so that's kind of how I started getting into cyber security, developing, training and things of that sort. Before I went off to London, I also worked in education teaching at Clearwater and Barclay. While at Barclay I was asked to create the curriculum of career development program. I'm not a teacher by trade and that is something that many teachers don't know how to create right. Lesson planning is very different curriculum development, and so I worked very closely under the mentorship of Sandra Borrows, who was the deputy principal at Barclay. That really has helped in my career the training, development and really making sure that it's aligned with the audience.

Speaker 2: 21:59

Wow, I must admit that opportunity that you had in London where you were basically branching out into all the different industries, Like you had your pick the whole Chinese industry you wanted to work in and you know amazing, cameron.

Speaker 3: 22:11

you know, when I left Bermuda I'll tell you this because I think it's important when I left Bermuda, when I was working at Bermuda, like I said, I'd give every business well, two and two and a half years and then I was going right. But I was ashamed. I left the Bermuda feeling as if I had a colorful resume. But the first time I sat with a recruiter in London and they looked at my resume, they were blown away and they said, wow, I could put you anywhere, like you said, cameron, because I had worked across all of these industries. So I gained experience that numerous entities Anglo-American and big you know well-known types of entities in the UK, as well as again establishing my foot to start my own business, I had a relocation business.

Speaker 3: 22:58

But when I was working, when I was living in the UK as well, I wanted people, bermudians particularly, but people who did not necessarily have the skills or know-how to advocate for themselves in the process of relocation. I wanted to give them a platform and a voice. So for years I had ReluConnect for that purpose of giving a piece of my experience to help others to grow. And again, all of this, as you can tell, is hand-in-hand with the advocacy in AI ethics yes.

Speaker 2: 23:29

I love it. It's all like you said, it's all mapped together, whole B. With mapping it together, I especially was really enjoying what you were speaking about being an entrepreneur, especially being an entrepreneur's daughter my mom because she had her own business. Get the control systems, not a plug, but you know, just saying Excuse me, you've had a blog A plug, like the thing works up to coming up every one of anybody's listening. But yes, it's just listening to that entrepreneurial spirit. Really, just, you know, being agile, having to pivot, gaining so many different skills, it's really inspiring to listen to another entrepreneur. It's like it's really I love that. It also does bring me back to what I wanted to talk about later, which was asking you a little bit more about that giving back. So I guess how would you say that your own career like when you already mentioned that you've been able to give back by giving other people a voice? But how else would you say that you're, I guess, just sharing your knowledge? Really, how else would you say that you're able to give back to other people?

Speaker 3: 24:31

Yeah, you know what. In all fairness, I would say that 2023 was a year of reflection and introspection for me. I had to do a lot of shadow work, if you're familiar with that. So, on a spiritual level, the kind of facing your good and your bad right, because when we show up in the world, we show up as whatever we believe good should look like, but we live with ourselves and you know what. And if you're a religious person, jesus Christ, god shows anger, right, jealousy, all the things that we deem to be so negative. God has all of those things and so they're all in us, and so I did a lot of work around that and that helped me to fully appreciate and understand my space and my voice years ago. So, like I said from my early childhood, writing my art is writing right, so that's my God-given talent, if that makes sense, and I found a lot of peace and expression in writing.

Speaker 3: 25:36

I used to do spoken word, which is stick a long, which is stick for me. That's for me. It's bad. Back in the day I was called spoken, believe it or not, and so what I learned through doing spoken word? That I'm not a spoken word artist, I'm a poet. It's a softer side of writing, isn't it? I can be forceful in my personality, as you see, is quite lively. But then I go to take the mic, I immediately get into a formal stance and think, like I'm pushing out, I'm just done, I'm done, I'm done. So a lot of less than about self. And so then we talk about giving back in the forms of mentorship, coaching. I am a coach, a qualified coach, an integrative nutrition health coach.

Speaker 3: 26:25

Think about that a lot around midlife crisis. I think about it as midlife opportunity, because I told you how my midlife I was able to learn. I was able to do so much more. So we don't always start in our 20s, I'll tell you that. Okay, sometimes we just have to be obedient and do what we need to do. Then do the courses, do the jobs, stick in there, whatever you feel that energy to leave or to do something else, pivot Okay, because you're allegiance. I believe your allegiance should be to yourself and your purpose in life, not to a business. They can let you go, Like you can decide to leave tomorrow. So you have to think about how you're going to plant seeds, because we're floating through life, we're just passing through. It's all about knowledge here. It's all about taking what you can get in terms of understanding your purpose, applying that purpose, leaving your mark. How will you leave your mark? What is your natural talent that's going to tell you what your life purpose is? Mapping again, cameron, like a broken record. Map your life. You can figure out your purpose Right. Then doing that it gives me a voice.

Speaker 3: 27:40

My grandfather was a poet. There was actual audio of him doing I think it's Daniel, not Daniel, I can't remember, but it's a religious thing, religious spoken word type of thing. They didn't call it a spoken word back then. He was telling the story. And Lance, my cousin I don't know if you're familiar with these Bermuda greats as far as artists and entertainers, but he was a pianist. They used to do a lot of work together. They come from a line of vocalists. My brother he writes rap. He's a rapper. He's well-known in Bermuda combat but he has a bachelor's degree from Clark, atlanta, in marketing. He knows what he's talking about. So we're speakers. Once you understand your family dynamics, tune where you come from. What makes your families you run? Perhaps your family. You come from a line of runners from Africa. Who knows right? But I'm expecting that gives you a voice. Now you can plant seeds to empower and inspire other people.

Speaker 3: 28:51

My conversation is around managing your life. How do we stay present? How do we manage what I call the digital poly crisis? It's something that I've coined. It doesn't exist, but poly crisis does. If you're familiar, you do know poly crisis. Poly crisis is this idea of all of this global stuff happening, all these things. Right, we've got recession, you've got political warfare, you've got cyber security. You've got all this stuff. That is poly crisis.

Speaker 3: 29:25

I coined the phrase digital or Charim. Digital poly crisis, cyber security, data protection, ai All of this stuff. Careers how do I manage this? I talk about mindful privacy. How do we get to a place of? How do we manage our data online? You know like I already put all this personal stuff on there. How do I manage this? Now? You know, people know this stuff about me. How do I deal with that? So I talk a lot about these topics which, as you can tell from our conversation, it speaks to my life. It's honest. I speak about art and technology.

Speaker 3: 30:02

I'm a generative AI. I'm a certified generative AI expert Prompting you can imagine. Any writer should study prompting. I agree, it is awesome. I'm naming it fairly important A hundred, you know. And criminal justice. I'll go to this really quickly.

Speaker 3: 30:19

I studied criminal justice. I thought I wanted to be a forensic psychologist. Criminal justice is the absolute core of understanding people. Study human being is one secondary from committing the worst of a crime. We're all human. You never ever know what could happen in life and, of course, I'm not a criminal and I'm not a court. Did anyone to be a criminal? But if you want to understand human nature, study criminality, understand how people function, to psychology and neuroscience, right. But studying criminal justice is beyond criminals. I wanted to understand where the rights are for criminals. Do they have rights? Do they have a hospital or a hospital in a hospital? With a criminal crime, are you still a person? That's why I wanted to study criminal justice, but take it further. It's about people, it's about ethics, it's about doing the right thing, it's about growing this technology, humanity and technology, arts and science. That is the core of who I am as an AI ethicist and a data protection profession.

Speaker 2: 31:23

Especially like what you said at the end. It's about people, about that humanity of everything, just how it all really links together. And it actually does bring me to what I wanted to talk about, which was your reward. So if, for those who don't know, we're giving a quick congratulations not a quick a congratulations to Ms Clark Droll because she recently got the awards, actually, how I found out about her, she was one of the 100 brilliant women in AI ethics in Bermuda, so I'm really proud of her for that. So congratulations Then.

Speaker 2: 31:50

Nobody's clapping, but it's just me. So I want to ask you a little bit more about that experience, I suppose. So, like you mentioned before, all of those things that you did, you know, doing your criminal justice degree, getting that arts bachelor sorry, master's in arts, and then using it all throughout your career, I'm sure that all built up to you receiving that award. So if you wouldn't mind talking a little bit more about, I guess, that experience and how it felt when you realized, like, even if that wasn't the moment, but that moment when you realized it's all coming together, everything had a purpose and it was a step by step just leading me to this moment. So if you wouldn't mind talking a little bit more about that, sure sure.

Speaker 3: 32:26

It still links to spirituality. To be fair, believe it or not Then links everything spirituality for me. But yeah, I got the news that I was nominated. It was 600 women globally and that I was nominated to be featured on the list for 2024. It was during a very difficult time for me my grandmother passed during that week. I also finished the first global AI leadership program for women in the world. It's an amazing program by Mission Impact Academy or MIA. They are going to be running another cohort. I would encourage women and girls to get involved just people from all over the world.

Speaker 3: 33:16

We explored Metaverse. I remember when I was in my 30s and I was addicted to the Sam's you know the Sam's and I just thought I was the most weird person under the sun when I was just so addicted. I would make it weird since to play all day and night. Well, if you've ever been in the Metaverse, it's basically the same thing. The things that we get into being yourself is everything right, so the things that you love and all of that. It maps to create who you're meant to be, as I've said before. And so the week that I was finishing that program and that program, I set on a social AI and social impact panel. I was actually asked to join the program as a leader, like an advocate for the program, and it was amazing.

Speaker 3: 34:09

I came into AI ethics really through data protection. As I mentioned, I did a course, I did two courses at the same time, lost my mind. I wouldn't encourage anyone to do it. London's School of Political Science and Economics is not a skill to play with. It's going to test your knowledge. It's going to test your skills right. And so I did two courses at the same time, two certificates. One was in data law, policy and regulation and the other was in the ethics in AI, and they were heavy hitting courses. They talked about regulation, they talked about politics, they talked about socioeconomic challenges in these spaces and so, as you see, my introduction to AI was through that. That wasn't my full introduction but, again, my real push for it to be a career and understand the overlap was through data protection.

Speaker 3: 35:07

By doing the global AI leadership program through LIA, I was introduced to generative AI. So now I was able to see AI in a more artsy, fun way as opposed to you know, let's have a look at the way that you've designed it. I was introduced it, just it opened my mind. I, as a writer set on, almost started projects tons of them. I've been able to finish projects because it's just really inspired me to repurpose some of them and really think about how AI and how the future is going to impact the world and the society that we live in.

Speaker 3: 35:51

I think the foundation of the LSE courses together it really formed a really solid understanding and footing in this space to now, starting on my artsy side, right, because I've had years of working on that. No, I just need to know how the technology works with my art. I was thinking that positions me to again follow my life's purpose. Now, right, I can understand how artsy people are. More science, more scientific, more technical individuals could appreciate AI, how we need to have a voice in this space as women, as diverse individuals, why it's important whether you come in through arts or science or both, why you know at what point are our voices important, what space should we hold in this space, in this industry, and so I think that a lot of that is what positions me to be a part of that list.

Speaker 3: 36:52

So, like I said, I found out the day after I graduated from the program. I got news of the list and if I could be honest with you for the first, I would say first weekend I found out on a Friday. That weekend I had imposter syndrome. I'm sure you know. I see 100 people in the world and I make the list of 100. You know what? Nothing at all can run to do with me personally or my achievements or accomplishments.

Speaker 3: 37:22

For me, it had everything to do with the large stage that I now have the voice, the responsibility that I have. Yes, as a lady from a small island 22 square miles, sugar and Bermuda to a woman in the world. You know, a voice in the world, a woman of color. You know so many things. I represent, right? It's very much about using the tools that exist now so that you can be productive and successful. Ai-powered tools allow you, in many ways, to be to manage those things. Whatever toolbox you have in life, you can start creating all that you need so that you can be successful, and AI is a great way to help to propel you into the future.

Speaker 2: 38:19

I still agree. I liked what you were talking about before about having this, I guess, responsibility when you're bringing yourself you know, the woman of color itself to the global stage. I guess, if I could go back to our island home, what impact would you say that AI would have in Bermuda? Because I might just be not knowing too much about it, but I know we've only recently just started getting into bringing more like AI-based, I guess, programs and things in Bermuda. I'm not too sure what's available back home. Sorry if you want to have it back home quite a while, but I would like to know what impact do you think we've been having with AI in Bermuda? Like, what are we doing with AI back home?

Speaker 3: 39:00

Yeah, I mean, I think you know small, the size of the door restriction does matter to some extent in terms of the adoption of minutes, but I think that you know you do have pockets or silos of individuals and organizations that are trying their hand at it. They're, in terms of regulation, it is a bit slow. Regulation around the world is, to me, for them, right, and that's part of the challenge. In terms of technological adoption, there are locals, bermudians, that are playing around with generative AI as well as with the more technical side. So building systems, you know GPT systems and AI types of technology. I have engaged with even entities outside of Bermuda that are interested in perhaps working with the population here with certain types of devices and initiatives that will be AI powered. So Bermuda is part of the world. I like to say that, though we say Bermuda is another world, we're not. As long as you go online, you're part of the world. Then you're connected. So we can't live with our head in the sand. We have to pay attention and be aware, but there are some things that are being developed.

Speaker 3: 40:20

I sit on a data team for the education reform with the Ministry of sorry Department of Education, and so you know there's conversations around what innovation looks like in Bermuda and so, yeah, I mean it's definitely a watch this space. That's my book situation. But I think the conversations there just like data protection it takes a while for people to really wrap their heads around it. The more that we talk about the harms, it's yours, people. But what I think is important is that a lot of stuff that we use already is using AI. We're already immersed in the whole AI functions and, whether we know it or not, whether we want to or not, we are and we won't stop using half of the things that we're comfortable with. So I think it really needs to be around how more awareness of course, people feeling more comfortable and understanding how it connects the dots with what they're already doing. I think a lot of that conversation will help to ease the implementation of an ethical and responsible AI landscape here in Bermuda. I still agree.

Speaker 2: 41:39

I guess to kind of close it out, because I know we've taken quite a bit of your time today but I've really enjoyed the whole conversation, especially all the different nuggets that you were giving throughout it. But if I could finish off with just a little closing, I guess, quote really quickly from my grandfather, which you reminded me of, is that whenever I was going, if you would always say, like number, you're a citizen of the world. So I think that throughout your career, especially with going to London, that wonderful umbrella kind of opportunity that you had, and just being able to really branch out and bring not only yourself but your passions to wherever you went, I wanted to know if you had any just closing words for students that maybe feel nervous about doing that, especially with the narrative being if you pick something, stick to it and just stick to that only. So if you had any, I guess, past finishing words for students that want to branch out a little bit more, like you have, please, branch out, please do it.

Speaker 3: 42:29

You know we're evolving in so many ways.

Speaker 3: 42:36

There was a time Industrial Revolution, there was a time when that was the narrative, because that was the truth, right, you found what you could do and you stuck with it. There wasn't a lot of space to change, but that's changing, and change is the constant in our life middle life, crisis or opportunity, however you want to look at it, and you have one in 25, at 25 years of age, you have quarter life, two places, and that's typically Cameron, where a lot of young people feel like oh my gosh, what is my voice? What do I stand for? Who am I in this world? Oh my gosh, what do you mean? Are I my parents? So, yeah, I mean, be kind to yourself is number one. Well, number one was do it, just do it like night Number one. Number two be kind to yourself. Okay, do that mapping. You see, I'm in my forties, late forties I'm not ashamed to say I'm not one of those females and periodically, do an inventory, do a detox. Okay, go back, look at your skills, what's transferable? Remember, you can't stay static in this day and age. You'll have to be agile, you'll have to be nimble. You have to do this in order to survive In this day and age and beyond. You have to. Okay, it's not a matter of will machines take over our jobs? It's about us renaming, trying to who we are as a person, our skills, what we love to do, what makes us human, and understanding how AI can enhance, can make us even more powerful. That's a superpower. Be okay with who you are. That's part of be kind to yourself. Be okay with every bit of who you are the good and the bad. Okay, because that helps you to really form an authentic message to other people. People can read you a mile away if you're being fake and they will show it at some point.

Speaker 3: 44:40

Okay, you don't want to attract people who don't belong in your circle. You want to attract the right people, and the right people. Are you showing up as yourself? Okay, people can invite you in, and there's a difference between diversity and inclusion. Diversity you can have a lot of different people in a room, but they don't feel included. It's like someone inviting you to the birthday party, but they don't talk to you. So they check the list. So it's got a female there. Okay, I've got a diverse person there, but I know we don't need to talk to them. I'd rather not be invited to the party than to sit there and feel uncomfortable.

Speaker 3: 45:20

So and you know what? I would say this too don't do something artsy, yes, while of course, people think, oh, you have to do an MBA, that's okay. Go do it if that's what you want to do, but go and do a drama class, an impromptu class, a dance class, a singing class. Be silly. Take my advice, be okay with not being okay. That's important to be inclusive as a leader. Be okay with everything going wrong in your life. Be okay with whatever you planned not happening. That is a constant in life change, and so that's what I would say Be prepared.

Speaker 3: 46:02

We're in digital poly crisis. It's not going to go away. It's about mindful privacy. It's about realism. It's about understanding what you're okay with in your personal life or in the physical world. Then think about that. It needs to mirror that in your cyber world. So if you're not friendly, then don't be friendly online. If you don't hand over your baby to anyone walking by, then don't expose your little one to cyber world without any guidance. So that's what I say. Right, I was 22 with a baby. Some young people in uni might have a child, so I'm being real, and some are non-traditional students. I was right, and so the reality is online, just navigate the same way that you would do physical and you'll be okay. But all of these things the digital poly crisis, do not ignore it. Figure out your space in your toolbox. What tools do you need to be successful and to follow your life's progress?

Speaker 2: 47:06

Thank you so so much, especially for all those wonderful nuggets Guys. I hope you were taking notes. I was taking notes along the way. So thank you so much, miss Clark 12, for your time. I hope everyone enjoyed the episode. I really enjoyed my time with you. So thank you again for joining me. Really enjoyed it.

Speaker 1: 47:22

Hi again, awesome listener. That wraps up another deep dive of Cameron's lab. Dive in. Before you dive back into your day, take a second to hit that subscribe button so you never miss an episode. Want to behind the scenes, look Bonus content or just some good old STEM fun? Follow me on my socials Instagram, TikTok and YouTube at Cameron's lab and remember every episode is a new adventure, Every class that's really dive lined up for you. Don't miss out. Until next time. Stay curious and keep it fun.