Superbloom Studios Newsletter

February, 2023?

What’s new?

Superbloom Studios strongly believes in reflecting how data affects everyday life and how data products should be built to positively impact society and not just as a “technology” solution. We discuss what the latest AI, ML and algorithms’ impacts are on society and in particular towards a more gender inclusive world. The protests in Iran have been going strong for the past few months echoing the message of, “Women, life and freedom”. In this defiant uprising, technology has been both a boon and bane, helping the government deepen the surveillance state and helping the protestors make their voices heard. The two important ways through which the government is controlling the people through technology is through facial recognition and restricting internet access.?

The Minister of Health in Iran essentially alluded to the fact that they were going to use facial recognition technology to identify whether women were wearing the Hijab properly. Further, Iran has been trying to create their own ‘intranet’, and looking to cut off their people from the? international network. Apps like Rubika (like the Chinese WeChat) form an integral part of this local internet. But, Iranians are wary of using this app for various reasons: they have close ties to the regime and do not protect the privacy of users and the CEO of the app openly (and proudly) mentioned that they have AI technology that helps them identify “sensitive messages” between users and promptly removes them from the platform. The government is making the local internet cheaper than accessing international traffic and during a time of economic uncertainty, this makes it harder for citizens to escape surveillance.?

To circumvent internet surveillance and shutdowns, Iranians have turned to Virtual Private Networks, with their downloads increasing by over 1000% in the country. Though big tech hasn’t been as public and vocal about its support for Iran, technology workers have taken it in their own hands to build products and services that can help Iranian citizens and protestors. In one example, the Gershad app has been used by protestors to identify the locations of the morality police.?

Iranwire recently asked ChatGPT about the protests in Iran. They found that the understanding that people got from the bot had many gaps especially if they had no prior information about the history of Iran. It was also mostly general and could not replace the human qualities of detailed storytelling. Nevertheless, reading and learning about the protests is important and amplifying the stories, defiance and struggles of a million people is the least that we can do from miles away.?

What have we been up to?

Interview with All Things Startups:?

Dr. Raji Bakaran was recently interviewed by Arushi Gupta, currently pursuing her Phd at IIT Madras. She along with Satyabrata Mohanty (Founder, Innotrat labs) started a youtube channel called All Things Startups which aims to provide valuable information and inspiration to entrepreneurs at all stages of business development. You can find their interview with Dr. Raji Baskaran here.?

WE ARE HIRING!

We are hiring summer interns and for full time roles in program coordination, content writing, and data science. If you know someone who would like to be part of a small passionate team, do share the job posting with them or drop us a note at [email protected].?

Advisor Highlight: Maryam Ziaei, PhD, Founder and CEO,? iSono Health (founded in 2014)

Maryam ?has over 15 years of research and industrial experience in development of microscale devices and systems for high volume-consumer electronics. She completed an entrepreneurship degree at Stanford Business School and also holds a PhD from Stanford and a MS from UC Berkeley, both in Electrical Engineering. Her first paying job was as a college freshman when she talked her way into a senior position as a math and physics tutor at UCSF.? When she needed to tutor upperclassmen in those areas she explains that she just quickly learned the more advanced subjects and then turned around to tutor them.?

?During the time we spoke to Maryam, she was at Raleigh, North Carolina for the customer pilot launch of a device by iSono Health. “iSono Health has developed the world’s first AI driven platform with an automated and wearable ultrasound to empower women and their physicians with early detection and monitoring of breast cancer.” The Ultrasound captures 3D images in 2 minutes with auto scanning and uses acoustic biomarkers to identify abnormal masses. Their risk based imaging seeks to provide personalized care with regular monitoring for high risk individuals and also makes remote monitoring and care accessible. Interestingly, their first ever model used duct tape.

?According to Maryam’s research, 50% of women over the age of? 40 and 40% over the age of 50 in the US don’t get mammograms. Recently, iSono Health and Abdul Latif Jameel Health announced a partnership agreement to #closethecaregap in accessing breast imaging technologies. She mentions that “Access and adoption go hand in hand”. iSono Health is starting to sell devices to clinics and the next phase of development involves creating a self monitoring device. Maryam was named “Healthtech Leader of the month” in November 2022 by UCSF Rosenman Institute.

What we are reading:?

Autobiography reviews are always pretty contentious because it feels wrong to read the lived experiences of someone and evaluate whether you personally "liked it or not". But, I would love for others to pick up this book so here is the review. Masih is an exiled Iranian journalist and you might know her from the popular #LetUsTalk (My stealthy freedom) movement which highlights the fight of Iranian women against compulsory Hijab laws in the country. But long before this, she was an exceptional journalist who spoke truth to power and the book tells us the story of her life.?

It starts off with Masih as a young child in the Iranian village of Ghomikola and takes you through her journey as she faces political and deeply personal trials. She was an inquisitive child, a rebellious teenager, a courageous journalist, a scared mother and most importantly, a woman who wanted the freedom to live life on her own terms. She was in prison as a teenager, her husband left her for someone else (and in an environment where there was nothing but misogyny, she bore the brunt of it all), she was targeted multiple times for just being a journalist and was ultimately forced into exile. But even when her world came crashing down, which seemed to be every other week, she continued with gutsy optimism to make herself heard.?

I cannot summarize 350 pages of non-stop defiance into one paragraph. The book is humorous at times, courageous at others but exemplary throughout.?

She talks about the vile propaganda against her, the overall lack of press freedom and the unjust arrests that happened around her when truth was detected in the words that were written. From going to the US embassy (a punishable offense in Iran) to asking ex-Presidents hard-hitting questions, every chapter has a new surprise. While reading, I stopped and thought to myself, "This is the most dangerous/courageous thing she's done" only to be topped by something else in the next chapter.?

At the end of the book, I fell in love with Masih. I loved her for her strength to "crack open a window when all the doors closed", her unwillingness to buckle down in an environment that commanded her to and most of all, for her empathy that continues to shine through her amazing journalism even today!

Art Highlight: Negar Zendedel, Photographer

"For me, being in love with you is not the most important thing about you. You infect me; you are beautiful in your messiness and your roughest decorations. You are delightful under the first ray of the sun and the last one."

Negar is available for remote paid projects and collaborations. You can contact her at: [email protected] for further enquiries

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