Artificial intelligence is quickly becoming embedded in everyday life. But for Black users, the technology hasn’t always worked in our favor. Viral examples and research have shown that AI doesn’t always get us, with documented cases of AI systems that can’t read darker skin tones, give less-than-ideal medical advice to the community, or reproduce stereotypes about race and wealth.
It’s a challenge Dr. Marian Croak is ready to eradicate.
No stranger to the digital world, Dr. Croak is the brilliant engineer who created Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), the technology that made modern video calls and services like Zoom and WhatsApp possible. She also holds more than 200 patents and has spent decades ensuring that innovation reaches our communities.
“AI can have a profound, positive impact on society, but we absolutely must be intentional when mitigating the risk that comes with it,” said Dr. Croak, when discussing how AI is capable of change.
As Google’s VP of Responsible AI, she’s been instrumental in reaching this goal. “We have a responsibility to develop AI the right way to ensure that our research and products benefit people everywhere,” she stated. “That means working with others across industries, fields of expertise, governments, and civil society to gain a broader understanding of the world’s challenges, and building our technology with the globe in mind, making our products helpful to as many people as possible.”
This month, Dr. Croak is featured in The Art of Possible, a new documentary from Google Cloud that chronicles her groundbreaking career and her mission to ensure emerging technologies serve everyone, not just the people designing them.
“As I say in the film, I want young innovators to believe that the way things are doesn’t have to be the way things will be,” she said. “If this film inspires just one person to pick up their own chemistry set and ask why, then it’s done its job.”
In honor of Women’s History Month, Dr. Croak sits down with EBONY to examine how our lives have been shaped by lightning-speed algorithms and gives her candid thoughts on how this virtual future should recognize everyone.
EBONY: You helped give the internet a voice; now you’re helping shape the future of AI. How does it feel to hold that space, especially as a woman in an often male-dominated field?
Dr. Marian Croak: It’s an incredible privilege to stand at this nexus where deep technology meets societal impact. Just as we worked to expand communication with VoIP, we’re now focused on ensuring AI is built for everyone. Holding this space is essential because women bring a critical perspective grounded in human-centered innovation. It feels like a natural extension of my lifelong mission: to build technology that doesn’t just work, but truly serves and extends access to the world.
AI is starting to create music, art, and even viral content online. Will AI ever truly be able to replicate culture?
AI is an incredible creative partner, a tool that can augment human expression in ways that were previously unimaginable. However, culture is driven by shared values and collective connection. We saw this firsthand in the documentary; while AI could reconstruct visual vignettes of my past, it required human perspective and judgment to bring those scenes to life. Culture is created by each of us.
Where do you realistically see AI in five to ten years?
I can see AI seamlessly integrated into our daily lives, moving beyond simple tasks to drastically simplify friction and provide hyper-personalized support. We’re currently reimagining our technology for this new decade, and the focus won’t just be on what a computer can do, but how it empowers us to solve huge world problems and speed up life-saving discoveries. It’s important to remember that this isn’t going to happen overnight.
What do young people, especially young Black innovators, need to know about building the technology of the future?
Your perspective is absolutely essential as we build the future. Be bold, lead with integrity and remember that your dreams and ideas can impact the lives of millions. We’re stronger when different voices come together and try to solve the impossible.
What’s one unexpected way you’ve used AI in your everyday life?
For the documentary, we worked closely with my family to find old photos and gather stories that existed only in our memories. Because many of my most formative moments happened away from cameras, the team used Veo and Nano Banana through Google’s Flow product to bring those scenes to life. We were able to reconstruct visuals like the ‘spark’ of my first chemistry set or a scene in front of my childhood limestone townhouse in Manhattan—moments that were never documented on film. It’s been a deeply personal and unexpected journey using AI to help tell my own story.