A Speaker's Perspective on AI

Yvonne Armenta
Dec 12, 2025
5 min read

Are we in a bubble?

Short answer: no (?) Long answer: The rest of this blog.

I was invited to attend the big interview by WIRED, a "full day of in-depth, thought-provoking conversations showcasing people, platforms, technologies, and ideas shaping the future."

My type of event! I was captivated by the innovation, inspired by the way journalists asked questions, & ready to do my part to join the conversation around digital equity.

Let's get right into the experience and some of the conversations & insights that stood out to me.

Everyone is talking about AI.

But who's at the table? 🤔 Okay, wait. Getting ahead of myself. Let's recap.

First, let's define "AI" because it is way more than Chat GPT & the em dashes that everyone fights over. 👇

This 2-minute video breaks AI down.

AI (Artificial Intelligence) is the simulation of human intelligence in machines, enabling them to learn, solve problems, understand language, perceive, and make decisions, often by analyzing vast amounts of data to find patterns and perform tasks that traditionally need human intellect, like recommending movies or powering self-driving cars. It's a broad field.

^ I googled and AI generated that.

First of all, can you tell I was sitting hella far back? An introvert will introvert at the end of the day...

Dr. Lisa says that we're early on in the use of AI and that we haven't even scratched the surface. That's a little scary & fascinating at the same time! While there's an increased demand in AI (aka people are asking AI to do more) there isn't yet enough computing power. She says we're going to need more data centers to keep up with the innovative and transformative ways AI is being used.

When asked, "Do we actually need this?" The answer was along the lines of "why wouldn't we want this?" (Sorry, I don't have exact quotes. The room was so dark I can barely read my notes now).

I do see the value in AI to transform, as was talked about, "human potential". I wonder what that looks like and what we mean when we say this. Maybe it's the ability to do more in less time, which could free us up to live more joyful lives. Maybe it's the "crazy" idea that lives in our brains that almost feels impossible, until we meet la comadre AI.

That is cool. But, we have to always ask ourselves: who is included and excluded in the creation & implementation of this vision? Not just who uses AI products, but the actual creation of them. And what potential harm might this bring to communities? As Latines/as/os, we don't need data to know the answer to this (though it exists).

Am I being pessimistic? Not quite. Let's keep going...

I recently watched Wicked 1 (I know, I'm late. I always am). So, when I saw that the Director, Jon M. Chu was a speaker, I was really excited to hear about his view of AI as a creative.

First of all, as an audience member I have to say it. Yeah, I'm a little biased here, but immigrants and children of immigrants are the best storytellers. I was fully captivated.

He walked us through what it was like to direct Crazy Rich Asians and he reflects on "not having all of the answers about my cultural identity" (the pressures of representation when we're the only or 1 of few), but trying to portray the culture and experience as authentically as possible and make money, while at the same captivating audiences across cultures.

Chu in some ways expresses the power and role of creating good cinema through something his parents used to tell him. His parents run a restaurant, and he grew up watching them often get treated poorly by people who came in to eat (they love the food, but not the people. Where have we seen this before? 🙄). He’d ask his dad why they put up with it, and his dad would say:

We're taking their money. (I HEARD THAT)
We're filling their hearts, so that next time, they think twice about treating Asians poorly.

The philosophy: We're ambassadors. ¿Qué opinan?

**Chu said that he likes playing around with AI and isn't afraid of it because it's like a pencil that can help bring something to life.**

And, we're all really just trying to figure out how to use this pencil.

I'll end with this conversation with Daniela. Her company Anthropic is used and trusted by companies that value the innovations of AI and are also invested in researching it more deeply.

I aligned with their message of building AI with human benefit at their foundation. They're both building and questioning.

That's where I land. I think AI is powerful, sort of inevitable, but we have to pause every once (a lot) in a while to understand its potential harms to humans & our environment, which we're a part of not separate from.

One thing Daniela shared was that they trained a model to have a baseline foundation of ethical principles. They took 16 documents that were created by humans outlining cultural values & principles, and trained Claude to understand those and answer questions with that foundation in mind.

So, should we slow down?

Not necessarily, but we should most definitely have conversations about all the implications of AI and reduce harms. That might take a little more time, but I think it's worth it.

LATINA, PRESENTE.

I'm not sure how I got a complimentary ticket and I'm not going to question it. I'll accept it and see it as a sign that I was always meant to be in that room.

I had a bit of a flashback to my days in tech (slightly triggered), but with a newfound purpose and a more deep-rooted anchor in who I am and what I offer.

I felt like I was meant to be born & raised in San Francisco. Tech was always going to form a part of my journey, but I had to leave it for a bit, understand myself more deeply, and not be afraid to show up as her, to come back with a refined purpose in tech: advocate for digital equity.

And this event on its own is not the sole reason for this newfound purpose. I spoke at #LatinaGeeks Women in Tech Festival where I heard from Jaidie, AI PhD student & Advocate for Access who shared her research at the intersections of AI, justice, & community engagement. THIS is how we acknowledge the power of AI, build with everyone in mind, not just a few, and reduce harm.

We're not staying behind and we're not leaving our communities behind either.

Trust me, I'm a little crushed when I see that people use ChatGPT to write their speeches (some I notice, others tell me), but that's the reality. I'm not resistant to it. By the end of our sessions we always have something that feels more aligned and totally different. So, should I keep questioning it? 100% That's a healthy sign of critical thinking. Will I engage with it and embrace it? Also, yes.

Ramble over. For now....