Original job description
FairwAI is building the world’s first bias accountability infrastructure - a compliance platform that detects systemic discrimination in real-world environments like healthcare. We’re designing tools that surface bias in real time and hold institutions accountable. This is AI not as an optimizer, but as a watchdog for equity. If you are basic this isn't for you. This is for gamechangers!
We’re seeking a brilliant, mission-aligned NLP intern to join the team - our hospital equity analytics unit. You'll help us extract meaningful signals from real-world review data, such as:
Microaggressions and patient-reported discrimination
Health equity concerns (tone, treatment delay, misdiagnosis)
DEI failures and disparities across racial, gender, or disability lines
You’ll work closely with our founder, MIT & Harvard PhD's, and fairness technologists to prototype systems that go from reviews → labeled incidents.
What You’ll Do
Develop and test zero-shot and few-shot NLP models to flag bias, tone-policing, medical gaslighting, and other equity violations.
Clean and label real-world review data from platforms like Google, RateMDs, Vitals, Healthgrades
Collaborate on special logic - translating NLP outputs into report cards
Explore open datasets on health equity, maternal mortality, and public complaints to train models
Evaluate models for sensitivity, specificity, fairness metrics, and false positives
Create explainability tools (e.g., SHAP, LIME) to make outputs auditable and transparent
Desired Skills
Strong Python + NLP toolkit experience (Hugging Face Transformers, spaCy, NLTK, or similar)
Familiarity with zero-shot/few-shot classification and prompt engineering
Bonus: Interest or coursework in fairness, healthcare, or social impact
Bonus: Prior use of datasets like MIMIC-III, Bias in Bios, or HealthReviewCorpus. Drop us your Github.
What You’ll Gain
Work under guidance of MIT, Oxford, and Harvard-affiliated researchers
Build tools with real-world accountability and ethical design stakes
Mentorship in ethical tech, bias auditing, and public interest product design
We see thousands of applicants and there are patterns we can see with AI responses. Those candidates that are original impresss us the most.
FairwAI is building for a world where systems treat people fairly - we’re equally committed to building a team that reflects that world. Black, Indigenous, disabled, queer, and first-gen students are strongly encouraged to apply.
You will work with a multi-disciplinary team: Dr. John Cooley – Technical Advisor Role: Leads FairwAI’s technical architecture, AI compliance engine, and research partnerships. Bio: Dr. John Cooley is a renowned technologist and serial entrepreneur who holds five degrees from MIT: B.S. in Electrical Engineering, B.S. in Physics, M.S. in Electrical Engineering, an Engineer’s Degree, and a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering. He earned the David Adler Memorial Thesis Prize and the Morris Joseph Levin Award, recognizing his groundbreaking work in engineering and systems design. John was the CTO and later CEO of Nanoramic Laboratories, where he led the company to raise $100+ in capital and developed cutting-edge battery and nanotechnology solutions. With 15+ years of experience at the frontier of hardware-software integration and AI systems, John brings a rare blend of research rigor and venture-scale execution. He now advises FairwAI on tech architecture, compliance logic, and academic research integration across MIT and international institutions.
Dr. Niousha Roshani – Social Systems Strategist Role: Co-leads FairwAI’s strategy, focusing on culturally responsive AI, equity frameworks, and global engagement. Bio: Dr. Niousha Roshani is a leading voice in the intersection of AI, social justice, and public interest technology. She is a former Fellow at the Berkman Klein Center at Harvard University and co-founder of the Center for Democracy Development and Rule of Law at Stanford University. With a background spanning the UN system, Latin American human rights movements, and Stanford’s impact tech community, Niousha brings a transnational lens to algorithmic fairness and ethical design. Her expertise ensures FairwAI builds tools that not only detect discrimination - but empower communities and institutions to address it systemically. Based in Brazil, she anchors our Global South partnerships and pilots. Brazil is the last country in the western hemisphere to abolish slavery.
Dr. Ryan Chin – Strategic Advisor, Urban Tech & Mobility Systems Role: Ryan advises FairwAI on systems architecture, urban integration, and commercial strategy. He brings expertise in AI-driven mobility, sensor networks, and resilient infrastructure to inform how FairwAI scales across physical environments like hotels, hospitals, and cities. Bio: Dr. Ryan Chin is a globally recognized expert in smart cities, urban mobility, and sustainable design systems. He co-founded Optimus Ride, a leading autonomous vehicle company spun out of MIT, where he served as CEO and led the development of self-driving tech for campuses, cities, and business districts. Prior to that, Ryan was Managing Director of the City Science Initiative at the MIT Media Lab, where he pioneered AI-integrated mobility systems and urban computing platforms. Ryan holds a Ph.D. and two Master's degrees from MIT in Media Arts and Sciences and Architecture. A serial entrepreneur and systems thinker, Ryan has advised Fortune 100 companies, U.S. government agencies, and international city governments on emerging technologies, sustainability, and mobility innovation. He is a frequent keynote speaker at Davos, Smart City Expo, and the UN. At FairwAI, Ryan supports us with building out our advisory team and the integration of computer vision, IoT, and AI fairness protocols into real-world infrastructure, ensuring our platform is adaptable, sensor-compatible, and aligned with the future of ethical urban technology.
Mike Rinella – Government Affairs & Financial Strategy Role: Shapes FairwAI’s public policy strategy, unions to get ivolved, government, and compliance market integration. Bio: Mike Rinella brings decades of experience in public finance, state governance, and strategic planning. He served as a senior advisor to two Governors of New York, including Governor Mario Cuomo, where he worked on economic development, energy regulation, and state-level policy reform. He was also Director of Strategic Planning at SolarFi, helping guide federal partnerships and compliance infrastructure for renewable energy deployments. A graduate of Harvard Kennedy School (’86), Mike is instrumental in crafting FairwAI’s pathways to adoption by Attorneys General, state legislatures, and procurement agencies. He also helps navigate our positioning with foundation-aligned capital like PRIs and MRIs.
Carson Smuts – IoT & Hardware Integration Advisor (MIT Media Lab) Role: Advises on spatial sensing, IoT systems, and architecture for real-world monitoring. Bio: Carson Smuts is a Senior Research Scientist at the MIT Media Lab’s City Science Group, where he has spent over a decade developing sensor platforms, digital twins, and hardware systems that interact with real-world environments. He co-created the CityScope urban simulation platform and led the design of MIT’s Environmental Sensing Infrastructure, a foundational piece of the lab’s smart city research. Trained as an architect at Columbia University, Carson transitioned into full-stack engineering with a passion for embedding fairness into built environments. He guides FairwAI’s integration with CCTV, IoT sensors, and spatial computing to power real-time bias detection in travel, healthcare, and hiring.
Dr. Taj Ahmad Eldridge – Strategic Advisor, Capital & Climate Justice Role: Taj advises FairwAI on capital formation, social impact investment strategy, and ESG-aligned growth. He brings deep expertise in climate finance, racial equity, and fund structuring - ensuring FairwAI’s monetization models and funding pathways align with both mission and market. Bio: Taj Ahmad Eldridge is a leading voice in climate justice investing and equitable capital innovation. A former Senior Director of Investment at the Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator (LACI), Taj has helped deploy hundreds of millions of dollars toward sustainable technologies and underrepresented founders. He is currently Managing Partner at Include Ventures, where he builds investment vehicles that close wealth gaps and accelerate climate solutions - particularly in communities historically excluded from capital access.
With 20+ years of experience in banking, venture capital, and fund management, Taj has advised funds and institutions including the Ford Foundation, MacArthur Foundation, Elemental Excelerator, and Capria Ventures. He is also a Senior Advisor to Jobs for the Future (JFF) and a board member of multiple national investment networks and ESG platforms. Taj’s unique strength lies in combining climate policy, community wealth-building, and financial engineering to drive systems-level impact. As an advisor to FairwAI, he supports efforts to build revenue models rooted in risk mitigation, government accountability, and regulatory tech - while helping ensure capital raised aligns with the venture’s vision of equity-first compliance.
FairwAI also is being supported by a former Chief Technology Officer of the United States of America.
This role is unpaid at FairwAI as we are social enterprise. However, many univeristies and programs fund this type of internship due to it's obvious societal impact. Interns will recieve a FairwAI certificate.
Top-performing interns can be:
Referred to graduate fellowships or full-time impact AI roles.
Eligible for future paid positions with FairwAI or its nonprofit arm if funding is available.
Supported in publishing or presenting findings at tech and policy forums.
