Sneha Revanur

Last updated
Sneha Revanur
Born2004 (age 2021)
Education Williams College, Stanford University
Years active2020–present
OrganizationEncode

Sneha Revanur (born 2004) is an American activist. She is the founder and president of Encode, a youth organization advocating for the regulation of artificial intelligence.

Contents

Early life and education

Revanur was born and raised in San Jose, California, where she attended Evergreen Valley High School and was a delegate to the United States Senate Youth Program. [1] [2]

Revanur attended Williams College before transferring to Stanford University. [3] [4]

Activism

In 2023, Revanur led a coalition of youth-led organizations to send a joint letter to congressional leaders and the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy calling for the inclusion of young people on AI oversight and advisory boards. [5] [6] She has stated that the project was sparked by concerns around the impact of generative AI on society following the release of GPT-4. Later that year, Revanur was the youngest participant on a roundtable of civil society leaders convened to discuss threats posed by AI. [7] [8]

Encode

Revanur founded Encode at age fifteen, after coming across California Proposition 25, a ballot measure that would have replaced the use of cash bail statewide with pretrial risk assessment algorithms. [9] [10] [11] After Proposition 25 failed to pass, Revanur broadened Encode's focus to include other societal challenges related to AI use, including surveillance, disinformation, and job loss. [12]

Revanur has expressed growing concern over the possibility of larger-scale "catastrophic" harms from AI. [12]

Awards and honors

In 2023, Revanur was the youngest individual named to TIME's inaugural list of the 100 most influential people in artificial intelligence. [10]

In December 2024, she was included on the BBC's 100 Women list. [13]

References

  1. Wylie, Kelly. "Local High School Student Chosen to Represent California in the 2022 U.S. Senate Youth Program". Santa Clara County Office of Education.
  2. "Generation GPT: What Gen Z really thinks about 'world-changing' AI". The Washington Post.
  3. Casey, Quinn. "Sneha Revanur '26, founder of Encode Justice, advocates for youth voice in AI regulation". The Williams Record.
  4. "Sneha Revanur". Encode Justice. Retrieved 2024-06-11.
  5. Schreckinger, Ben (May 2023). "Meet the Greta Thunberg of AI". POLITICO.
  6. Velázquez, Regina. "Shaping the Future of AI". Williams Today.
  7. Feiner, Lauren (12 July 2023). "VP Harris meets with labor and rights groups to discuss threats from A.I." CNBC.
  8. "Readout of Vice President Harris's Meeting with Consumer Protection, Labor, and Civil Rights Leaders on AI". The White House. 13 July 2023.
  9. Taylor, Vanessa (20 February 2024). "These young activists are battling all-knowing tech". Mic.
  10. 1 2 Shah, Simmone (7 September 2023). "TIME100 AI: Sneha Revanur". TIME. Archived from the original on 16 May 2025. Retrieved 25 February 2024.
  11. Metz, Rachel (29 September 2021). "These high school students are fighting for ethical AI". CNN.
  12. 1 2 Drollette Jr., Dan. "Interview with Sneha Revanur, "the Greta Thunberg of AI"". The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.
  13. "BBC 100 Women 2024: Who is on the list this year?". BBC. 3 December 2024. Retrieved 3 December 2024.