2027 speakers
Natalie Dunbar
TALK
The Original LLMs: What marginalized communities already know about AI
Marginalized communities created the original large language models—long before Silicon Valley knew they needed them. Code-switching, community-built references like Urban Dictionary, a lifetime of reading a room under pressure: that’s not a metaphor, it’s the exact skill set AI development is missing, and it’s being extracted without credit right now.
This talk makes the case that ambiguity is only an opportunity if the people who already know how to navigate it are the ones shaping what gets built.
You’ll walk away with:
A clearer eye for spotting “neutral” AI defaults that are actually narrow ones in disguise
A reframe of code-switching as a design skill, not a personal accommodation
A sharper answer to who should be leading this work—grounded in expertise, not just representation
ABOUT THIS SPEAKER
Natalie Dunbar (she/her) is the founder and CEO of The Content Practice Architect, a consultancy focused on helping brands build sustainable content practices.
As a Black woman content strategist, she brings both technical expertise and lived experience navigating marginalized identity in tech to her work on inclusive design and AI ethics.
She’s worked with organizations including Anthem, Kaiser Permanente, Upwork, Walmart, and federal agencies such as the FDA, USDA, and VA. She’s the author of From Solo to Scaled: Building a Sustainable Content Strategy Practice, and a frequent speaker on content strategy, inclusion, and now, AI.