My name is Reuben Brasher, and I believe in the power of human reason to improve our lives. In my years working in the tech industry, I have sought opportunities to collaborate with teams that share this belief. While there is something noble in any collective endeavor to produce a product, the product itself cannot be the ultimate goal, nor can mere profit from selling a successful product. To the customer who purchases a product, that product can either benefit or harm them, and the team that creates that product must have the wisdom to ask which of these outcomes will occur.

I am a mathematician and a machine learning engineer. In 2014, I began my career in industry. This was an extraordinary period during which I was privileged to participate in the development of machine learning (ML) and mobile applications for a major corporation. It was during those years that ML, in the form of neural network architectures, became a practical solution due to the availability of consumer GPUs capable of fast linear algebra operations. My mathematical background provided me with an understanding of gradient descent, information theory, communication theory, and probability theory, which underlie ML.

Ethical considerations began to arise as mobile applications and social media became increasingly important to consumers worldwide. While mobile devices placed unprecedented power for communication and computation in the pockets of ordinary people, they also threatened privacy in surprising ways, as the devices effectively monitored user location and social activities continuously. App makers suddenly had the ability to track individuals, and also the motivation to use that information for commercial gain. For machine learning experts, the temptation to gather data at the cost of user privacy became significant.

Thus, I have worked for teams that understood the intersection of ethical principles, agile development, and human-centered design. Agile development prioritizes people over processes and tools. When implemented properly, agile places the highest precedence on the value of both the human members of the team and the human customers, ensuring that human value comes first for the practical reasons that humans do the work and buy the product. Human-centered design places humans at the center as the measure of correctness. Both the agile and human-centered design philosophies effectively build a feedback loop between the human participants in product development and the technology, which naturally results in greater efficiency and ethical conduct.

Friends, I want to build beautiful things, but I insist on doing so for the right reasons. Even before GDPR and CCPA, every team I worked with understood that customers own their data and that no company has the right to impose an experience on any human being without first seeking consent and understanding. ML and AI are powerful tools that can help people liberate themselves, but only if used in ways that allow people to build community with consideration for privacy.

My experience in developing software and leading teams is what I offer to the world. At this moment, I am not seeking employment, but I am willing to consider alliances and partnerships with like-minded people. If you also wish to build teams dedicated to producing powerful, attractive products, then it would be pleasant for us to speak. If you wish to use technology for the public good, then consider me a friend.