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In this episode of Women Talkin’ ‘Bout AI, we start by discussing the findings of a 2024 study "Global Evidence on Gender Gaps and Generative AI" (🔗 below). One overall finding is that women are 20–25% less likely than men to use generative AI, which unspools into something bigger: a story about power, voice, and who gets to shape the future.

We also discuss own experiences in tech, noticing how the gender gap in AI isn’t just about access to tools. It’s about what counts as legitimate work, whose voices are amplified, and how cultural scripts around “cheating,” confidence, and authority get absorbed into the most influential technologies of our time.

We talk about:

🔹 Why women’s hesitation around AI isn’t simply resistance, but often a reflection of ethics and identity.
🔹 How underrepresentation today could mean future AI systems are trained on a distorted mirror of humanity.
🔹 What it means to think of AI as both a child we’re raising and a cultural intermediary that’s already reshaping our sense of normal.
🔹 the WEIRD AI Framework: WEIRD is a term from psychology that stands for Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic. Most AI systems, generative models especially, are trained on corpora that overrepresent WEIRD voices and underrepresent everyone else.
🔹 Practical ways women can experiment, reclaim, and band together in communities of practice.
🔹 If AI is the new baseline for productivity and creativity, then the absence of women’s voices isn’t just a gap, it’s a risk of silence becoming the default.

Learn more:

🔗 Gender gap study: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=66548
🔗 Mo Gawdat's book Scary Smart: https://www.mogawdat.com/scary-smart
🔗 Geoffrey Hinton Says AI Needs Maternal Instincts: https://www.forbes.com/sites/pialauritzen/2025/08/14/geoffrey-hinton-says-ai-needs-maternal-instincts-heres-what-it-takes/


💙 Follow us on our Substack: Women Writin' 'Bout AI: https://substack.com/@womenwritinboutai

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In this episode, we open up about something we haven’t shared publicly before: our decision to shut down Moxie, the startup we spent years building.

We talk honestly about what led to that choice—the excitement of early growth, the challenges of raising money as non-technical founders, and the impossible reality of competing with free tools from tech giants like Google, OpenAI, and Microsoft.

This isn’t just a story about one company. It’s about trust, expertise, failure, and the messy human side of working with generative AI in education and research. Along the way, we reflect on what we wish we’d known earlier, how burnout shaped our decisions, and what we’ve learned about ourselves through the process of letting go.

What you’ll hear in this episode:

• Why we ultimately decided to shut down Moxie
• The pressures of fundraising and pitching as non-technical founders
• The gap between hype and reality with AI in education
• Lessons on trust, expertise, and failure in both startups and academia
• How we’re processing life and work after Moxie

If you’ve ever wondered what it really feels like to close the doors on something you’ve poured yourself into, or you’re navigating your own questions about AI, startups, or burnout—you’ll find some resonance here.

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Today we sit down with Dr. Leslie Gruis — mathematician, NSA veteran, and author of The Privacy Pirates — to talk about the urgent importance of protecting personal information in our tech-driven world.

From children’s online privacy to the rise of corporate data exploitation, Dr. Gruis shares both her insider experience from decades in national security and her practical advice for safeguarding our digital lives.

📚 About our guest:

• First president of the NSA’s Women in Mathematics Society
• Contributor to U.S. Cyber Command & National Intelligence Council
• Author of The Privacy Pirates: Pirates of Personal Data
• Mentor and advocate for STEM students

🔑 In this episode you’ll learn:

• Why privacy is essential to democracy
• The risks kids face with school-issued laptops & smartphones
• How corporations collect and exploit our personal data
• What parents and educators can do today to protect children
• The ethical questions surrounding AI, surveillance, and data use

🎙️ Show Notes & Topics we cover:

• Defining informational privacy in the 21st century
• Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (and why it’s outdated)
• School-issued laptops and surveillance concerns
• Corporate data collection, sentiment analysis, and manipulation
• The asymmetric power between consumers and corporations
• Why protecting privacy is vital for democracy

🔗 Links

• Buy The Privacy Pirates
• Follow Dr. Leslie Gruis
• Follow Women Talking About AI:
  • 📺 YouTube
  • 📰 Substack

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Summary

In this conversation, Jessica and Kimberly interview David Shapiro to explore the concept of Post-Labor Economics. They discuss the implications of automation and AI on traditional job structures, the need for new economic measurements, and the evolving social contract. They explore the potential of Universal Basic Income and the importance of education in preparing future generations for a changing economy. The discussion emphasizes the need for a shift in how we perceive work, productivity, and personal fulfillment in a world increasingly dominated by technology.

Takeaways

• Post-Labor Economics examines the impact of automation on traditional jobs.
• Automation has historically decoupled productivity from human labor.
• The misconception that technology always creates new jobs is prevalent.
• AI's rapid advancement poses challenges for job security.
• Universal Basic Income (UBI) is a potential solution for economic displacement.
• Current economic measurements like GDP may not reflect true societal well-being.
• The social contract is evolving as labor becomes less central to identity.
• Education must adapt to focus on empathy, communication, and critical thinking.
• A garden mentality encourages ongoing personal growth rather than a linear life path.
• Rethinking work and meaning is essential in a post-labor society.

Links

• Rest Is Resistance: Free Yourself from Grind Culture and Reclaim Your Life Book by Tricia Hersey (https://thenapministry.wordpress.com/)
• David's LinkTree
• David's YouTube Channels
• David's SubStack
• Women Writin' 'Bout AI Substack

Chapters

00:00
Introduction to Post-Labor Economics

05:34
Understanding Automation and Job Loss

07:40
The Framework of Post-Labor Economics

10:16
The Rise of Automation and Its Impacts

13:05
The Future of Work and Productivity

16:04
Universal Basic Income and Economic Solutions

18:25
The Role of AI in Shaping Society

20:58
The Social Contract and Power Dynamics

24:03
Measuring Economic Success Beyond GDP

26:25
The Future of Capital and Labor Relations

29:06
Conclusion and Future Outlook

37:38
Negotiating Power and Redistribution

39:36
Cultural Values and Collective Solutions

40:24
The Tension Between Individualism and Collectivism

43:00
The Role of New Narratives in Society

43:50
Status Games and Human Behavior

45:52
Rest as Resistance and Economic Withdrawal

48:31
Frameworks for a New Way of Living

53:51
The Garden vs. The River Mentality

57:00
Education for the Future

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In this episode, hosts Jessica and Kimberly are joined by Dr. Juliana Peloche, global educator and senior AI literacy advisor at Edith Cowan University. With over 20 years of cross-cultural teaching experience in Brazil, Chile, and Australia, Juliana shares how a curious 12-year-old student sparked her journey into AI education. Together, they explore why AI literacy is more than a technical skill—it's a foundation for critical thinking, equity, and ethics in the classroom. From digital basics like knowing what a browser is, to reimagining how we assess learning in the age of AI, this episode dives deep into how we can better prepare educators and students for a tech-saturated future—without losing our humanity.

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🎧 Episode Summary

Dr. Tamara Tate joins Jessica and Kimberly to talk about AI, education, and the evolving role of writing in a world where students can co-write with machines. Tamara shares how she transitioned from a 17-year legal career into education research, what she’s learning through the development of Papyrus AI, and why feedback, voice, and agency matter more than ever. The conversation covers everything from AI literacy and middle school classrooms to the complexities of funding, parent engagement, and what it really means to “offload” learning. It’s a thoughtful, practical look at how generative AI is reshaping writing instruction—and why it’s not just about speed, but meaning.

🔗 Show Notes Links

• Tamara Tate – UC Irvine Profile: https://education.uci.edu/people/tamara-tate/
• Digital Learning Lab: https://digitallearninglab.org
• GenAIED.org – Generative AI in Education Resources: https://genaied.org
• Anna Mills – AI & Writing Pedagogy: https://annamills.net
• Sarah Elaine Eaton – Post-Plagiarism Framework: https://drsaraheaton.wordpress.com

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In this episode of Women Talkin’ 'Bout AI, host Kimberly Becker sits down with Dr. Mathilde Cerioli—a cognitive neuroscientist, mom, and Chief Scientist at Everyone.AI—to unpack the complex, often messy intersections of child development, technology, and artificial intelligence.

We cover:

• What AI can and can’t do for young minds
• How critical thinking actually develops—and why it can’t be outsourced
• The myth of "tech for tech’s sake" and why some edtech harms more than it helps
• Why your kid doesn’t need a bedtime podcast voiced by a deepfaked parent
• The neuroscience behind struggle, dopamine, and why learning should be hard
• Misinformation, deepfakes, and why everyone needs a family safe word

This conversation blends scientific rigor with real-world parenting chaos, offering both hope and hard truths. Whether you're raising a kindergartener or advising policymakers, this one’s for anyone who wants a future where tech serves human development, not the other way around.

****

If you find value in these conversations, consider supporting the podcast with a small donation—every bit helps us keep the mics on and the ideas flowing. Click the link below to donate.

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What happens when a passionate educator steps away from the whiteboard and into the world of AI? In this episode, we sit down with Marissa Sadler Holder, a former classroom teacher turned consultant/entrepreneur, and the founder of Teaching with Machines. With a master’s in e-learning and recognition as a two-time recipient of SVS’s Leading Women in AI, Marissa brings a grounded, human-centered approach to AI literacy in education.

We unpack her journey from teaching French to building a business, the emotional complexities of leaving the classroom, and why she believes teachers—not technologists—should be at the table when shaping the future of AI in education. From the power of small wins to the significance of that second “aha” moment, this conversation is a candid exploration of fear, hope, and the relentless pursuit of meaningful learning in an uncertain world.

📝 Show Notes:

Guest:
Marissa Sadler Holder
Founder of Teaching with Machines | Edtech Consultant | SVS Leading Women in AI (2024 & 2025)

Topics We Cover:

• How COVID catalyzed Marissa’s shift into e-learning and AI
• The founding story of Teaching with Machines: https://www.teachingwithmachines.com/
• What it really feels like to leave the classroom after 13 years
• How she supports teachers at every stage of AI literacy
• Why incremental change in classrooms matters more than big tech rollouts
• Two “aha” moments every educator has with generative AI
• The emotional weight of entrepreneurship vs. classroom stress
• The role of women’s voices in shaping AI discourse
• Bridging the AI gap between students, teachers, and parents
• Her upcoming project: Learning with Machines, focused on student + parent AI literacy
• Why we should stop aiming to “master AI” and start focusing on meaningful application
• Conference reflections: Why it's the people who make ASU+GSV unforgettable

Quotable Moments:

• “The goal isn’t to master AI. It’s to stay curious, stay human, and keep learning.”
• “Every teacher will hit that second lightbulb moment—where you realize AI isn’t just a tool. It’s a transformation.”
• “What we do in professional development should mirror what we do in great teaching: make it relevant, make it engaging, and meet people where they are.”

Links & Resources:

• Teaching with Machines (Marissa’s platform for educator-focused AI PD)
• Marissa on LinkedIn
• SVS Summit: Leading Women in AI
• Mentioned thought leader: Ethan Mollick’s Substack

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