Global Heel: Jennifer Mulveny
December 10, 2024UNC Global Affairs
Jennifer Mulveny ’96 returned to Carolina on Monday, Nov. 4, to discuss policymaking related to generative artificial intelligence (AI).
Jennifer Mulveny ’96 starts every workday with a notebook — of the pen-and-paper variety. Her office has a locker full of these physical notebooks, peppered with sticky notes outlining plans, processes and ideas, as well as a good old-fashioned to-do list.
Mulveny is not opposed to technological advancement. In fact, she is at the forefront of policymaking related to one of the world’s most disruptive technologies: generative artificial intelligence (AI).
She lives in Sydney, Australia, where she works for Adobe Inc., serving as director of government relations and public policy for the tech company in the Asia-Pacific region. On Monday, Nov. 4, Mulveny returned to Carolina to share insights with and learn from faculty, staff and students who are interested in AI policy.
While meeting with leadership from UNC Global Affairs and the UNC School of Data Science and Society (SDSS), she compared differences in AI policymaking among countries in the Asia-Pacific region, Europe and North America. They discussed concerns about deepfakes, misinformation and intellectual property rights.
“Our heritage is so strongly embedded in protecting creatives,” Mulveny said, “that when we developed Firefly, we decided to only train on content where we hold a license, that is in the public domain or that has a copyright that has expired.”
This is one example that, according to Mulveny, makes Adobe’s approach to AI different from others. Another is provenance, or content credentials, which is the uniting force behind the Content Authenticity Initiative (CAI). Adobe formed CAI, a coalition currently with more than 3,000 companies, such as Canon, the Associated Press, Nvidia and Getty Images, reflecting the broad and overlapping impact of AI.
“Jennifer did a brilliant job explaining the significance of provenance, which she described as nutrition labels for images,” Vice Provost for Global Affairs and Chief Global Officer Barbara Stephenson said. “She then sent me a link to a U.S. Department of State announcement of the formation of an interagency task force to advance international engagement on content authentication. She modeled for the rising generation, including those active in the Diplomacy Initiative, how Carolina prepares students to tackle the grand challenges of our time.”
After meeting with faculty and administrators, Mulveny visited SDSS Assistant Professor Neil Gaikwad’s DATA 120 course, “Ethics of Data Science and Artificial Intelligence.” She encouraged students to expand their horizons as they imagine their future careers.
While growing up in Delaware, Mulveny never considered life beyond the U.S. At Carolina, she studied English and wrote for The Daily Tar Heel, which made her a good writer, a skill she prioritizes to this day. She worked in Davis Library and was a student leader in Habitat for Humanity.
“Back then, Jenn was much like she is now: someone who knows how to work hard and play hard,” said Leslie Scholfield ’97, a friend from Carolina who also lives in Australia. “Jenn has been a friend for more than 30 years, and who would have ever guessed that we would live a mile apart on the other side of the world with our kids growing up together?”
At one point in college, Mulveny enrolled in a political science class “out of a natural curiosity,” and became a double-major, which led her to an internship in Washington, D.C. She earned her master’s degree in international relations from George Washington University, and after several years working in government and the private sector, she accepted a new position with her employer at the time in Au
stralia. A decade later, the two-year stint has turned into an unexpected career path and a new home for her family.
She implored students to dream big and take risks. If a door opens, walk through it. If there’s an opportunity, pursue it. She never anticipated a career in the tech industry, or a life in Australia, but she is happy.
“I was thrilled to hear Jennifer’s perspective on the current landscape of AI for creatives, particularly the efforts around content provenance and authenticity,” SDSS Dean Stan Ahalt said. “Our students are using these tools already, and they are preparing to enter a workforce quickly being shaped by AI. It’s so important for our students to understand the implications of using these tools and more about the companies who are committed to using this technology responsibly.”
Mulveny sees the challenges of AI on young people every day in her own home. She said her sons are more comfortable seeing — and being seemingly unfazed by — AI-generated content than older generations.
“We need a lot of education for digital media literacy, not just for students but for the public generally. Me included!” Mulveny said. “People need the right tools to look at a piece of content with a critical eye before they take it as truth and share it. We are not there yet, but Adobe is doing a lot of groundbreaking work in this space.”
Mulveny is a long-time champion of Carolina’s global mission and contributor to the Chancellor’s Global Education Fund, and she was thrilled to return to Chapel Hill. She said the actions governments and companies, like Adobe, take today matter immensely to the future of AI and the world. And for this reason, she is committed to helping Tar Heels prepare to tackle this grand challenge.