“From Civil Rights to Digital Rights:” 2025 Winter Convocation
By Nicholas D. Williams, Assistant News Editor
Founder and CEO of inclusive AI speaks on racial bias in the digital age at this year’s Martin Luther King Jr. (MLK) Winter Convocation.
Organized and hosted by the Center for Diversity and Inclusion, the MLK Winter Convocation has become a staple within the Susquehanna community. Acting as a kick-off to the spring semester, this yearly event welcomes new and returning students, along with faculty and staff to celebrate the legacy of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Featuring music provided by current University students, this event also includes a speaker and/or performance that effectively bridges the gap between modern society and the civil rights movement.
This year, we were treated to a presentation by the Founder and CEO of ChatBlackGPT, Erin Reddick.
The night began with opening remarks from President Green, highlighting the importance of Dr. King’s legacy. Following his profession, the audience was invited to participate in a performance of James Weldon Johnson’s “Lift Every Voice and Sing.” Affably known as the “Black National Anthem,” the piece’s lyrics are renowned for capturing the solemn yet hopeful appeal for the liberty of Black Americans.
After this, audience members listened to the invocation by Susquehanna’s Rabbi Nina Mandel. Following an excerpt from the book of Isiah, Mandel left the audience with this, “Let us remember that no matter what we do, no matter where we go, no matter where life takes us, we have the capacity and the responsibility to infuse our lives with the ethics and principles of justice and love.
Next, Susquehanna’s chief inclusion and diversity officer María L. O. Muñoz gave a brief introduction for the speaker: “Our speaker is the creator of ChatBlackGPT, an artificial intelligence software that addresses the ways racial bias is reflected in AI.” Muñoz said, “As an innovative and culturally inclusive software, ChatBlackGPT ensures a culturally aware and respectful response when engaged.”
Prior to the founding of her company, Reddick spent years working for tech giants such as Meta and Microsoft. While there, she recalls learning of the many racial biases that were overlooked in the creation of modern AI. Algorithms for things relating to criminal justice, finance and human resources have been shown to unjustly omit, or give the name of, Black citizens.
Reddick says, “[Dr. King’s] mission remains vital today as AI technologies continue to get bigger and integrate more into our lives.” Jumping from this, she made note of several instances in the past five years where AI was at fault for the wrongful convictions of Black people. In addition to this, Reddick says that similar algorithms have been proven to deny those of the same or similar demographic for things like loans and insurance.
These disparities eventually led her to an epiphany, why not create an AI model that, according to ChatBlackGPT’s website, “Offers free access to AI-driven educational content on Black history, culture, and issues.” Reddick did just that; by creating this AI model that primarily pulls from African American and African sources, she was able to aid in filling the gap between AI and the often-overlooked Black community perspective.
To do this, her model not only offers information pulled from the prementioned sources but also offers citations to relevant academic readings and/or books. This allows the user to have further education on the topic of question readily available at their fingertips.
This momentous step towards digital racial equality saw its success through its use of the “asking the tough questions” analogy. What is meant by that is, as Reddick says, ChatBlackGPT is the only AI model that will refer to the KKK. Similar dark moments from history also seem to be absent from other platforms.
Noting this as an effective erasure of black history, Reddick drew her inspiration from that. At the conclusion of her address, the audience was left with one of Dr. King’s most notable quotes: “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about the things that matter.”