About Me
Hello, my name is Samira Shirazy and I am an incoming third year student at the University of Washington. I am studying Human Centered Design & Engineering.
About My Mentor
Jay Cunningham is an HCDE PhD student and has been appointed by Washington Governor Jay Inslee to serve as Student Regent on the University of Washington Board of Regents. Cunningham is a researcher who works to advance public interest technology, responsible Al, and Al innovation as tools of liberation and justice for underrepresented users and marginalized communities. He is also a passionate servant leader with a lifelong interest in community building and activism.
About My Project
Elevating Black Corpus and UX in Speech & Language Systems
We are diligently working to confront disparities and advance equity within speech recognition softwares. Historically, marginalized communities have been left out of this conversation.
We’re actively pursuing partnerships with Seattle-based local organizations, driven by our commitment to community-based participatory research techniques. These principles underpin our approach to co-designing technology solutions that empower historically marginalized communities, fostering collaboration and equity. Our immediate goal is to initiate a research project aimed at addressing racial disparities in automated speech recognition and natural language processing, specifically targeting communities of Black American English speakers.