A mother with a son who has Down syndrome explains why AI projects fail: technologists build solutions without asking users what they actually need. Real progress requires listening first, then designing together.
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Right? Like, if I— like, my son has Down syndrome. He's like, Mom, you can't build tech for me unless I tell you what I need. And but as technologists, we're quick to be like, I got you, I can build something for you, I have an app, I can fix this. Yeah, I could fix this. And, and then we build it and they're like, I don't even— that's the one thing I want to keep, that's the one thing I want to do. If you just asked me, I would have told you. And that is, I think, one of the biggest challenges in AI is that it requires humans to become more human, to listen to people, to say, what can I build for you that is actually helpful to you? And not to second guess.