This is a meetup for queer researchers and practitioners working in AI. We have hosted many such meetups over the years at conferences such as ICLR, ICML, NeurIPS, NACCL, IROS, etc. Participants have found them a valuable source of community in an environment that, while generally well-intentioned, can feel alienating to those who do not match the overwhelming norm in aspects of personal identity.

Queer in AI’s mission is to raise awareness of queer issues in AI/ML, foster a community of queer researchers and celebrate the work of queer scientists. We use “queer” as an umbrella term for people with diverse non-normative sexual orientations, romantic orientations, and/or genders, corresponding to acronyms like LGBTQIA2S+. We also explicitly include those questioning their identities. Queer in AI’s demographic survey reveals that most queer scientists in our community do not feel completely welcome in conferences or other work environments, with the main reasons being a lack of queer community and role models. While there has been progress on these issues in recent years, issues remain, particularly for those who are transgender/non-binary and/or BIPOC. One of many steps towards improving that situation is to provide queer-focused spaces in work contexts such as this social.