Tech’s never-ending diversity problem – Sue Black OBE, computer scientist
UKTN | The Podcast
UKTN
5.0 • 6 Ratings
🗓️ 3 March 2026
⏱️ 33 minutes
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Summary
Sue Black OBE, a legendary British computer scientist, discusses her inspirational journey into computing, why too little has changed when it comes to sexism in the tech industry and her hopes and fears for the global workforce in the age of AI.
Black was the founding chair of the British Computing Society’s BCSWomen group, championed the preservation of the WW2 codebreaking HQ Bletchley Park and is a professor of computer science at Durham.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Every week it looks like AI can create better software, like more complicated software. |
| 0:12.1 | And of course, then I worry along with lots of my colleagues that our graduates going out into jobs, |
| 0:18.1 | there already are less kind of junior programmer, junior software developer |
| 0:21.9 | roles out there. When I set up BCS Women, so the first UK online network for women |
| 0:30.6 | in tech back in 2001, the percentage of women in tech was about the same as it is now. So I'm not |
| 0:36.3 | sure that much has changed. |
| 0:40.5 | The software that we're using and are going to be using more and more is going to be |
| 0:44.4 | affecting millions of people's lives. Even small amounts of bias now affecting millions of |
| 0:49.1 | people. So it is a massive issue. |
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