What inspired you to get into tech?
After R.S.Currie & Co, I moved to Berlin. I was interested in the idea of doing a digital product, especially after I experienced the constraints of running a retail enterprise. Six months later I had partnered with an American co-founder and we built a digital scrapbook platform for kids, utilising his experience as a father and mine with all the kids at R.S.Currie.
I had studied Philosophy at UCL, but it was only when I learnt more about engineering that philosophy really became alive for me, because it added a pragmatic element. I started Berlin Singularity, a philosophy and technology discussion group, from my living room. After a while I started lecturing at business schools and focusing all my spare time on furthering my understanding of progressive technologies, especially biotech and artificial intelligence. I moved to SF originally to work with some investors based over there.
You still split your time between San Francisco and west London – how do they compare?
San Francisco is a really unique place; an intellectual hub. In a way that I really appreciate, I get pushed to better my own learning. I like the attitude towards efficiency in the Bay Area.
In London, there is much more of a leisure focus, much more culture around the arts. London reminds me of New York; people are much more stylish and concerned about the external. In London you’ll get complimented on your haircut, in San Francisco you’ll get complimented for overcoming some sort of psychological bug that stopped you from thinking clearly on a topic. It’s a crazy focused place. My mother is in west London and I miss her horribly.
Describe an average day…
I find San Francisco taxing, so after a while I have to get away. My boyfriend (British music producer James Flannigan) lives in Los Angeles, so now I split my time between San Fran and the house we rented up in Beachwood Canyon in LA. It has no cell reception so it’s perfect. I read books, write and go for long walks and don’t talk to many people. I rescued a kitten, Occam, earlier this year, so I spend time with him.
If I’m in San Francisco, I’m working with people and learning. I’m interested in psychology, epistemology, sociology, neuroscience and artificial intelligence, because they are frameworks upon which everything else depends.
Has your style changed in San Francisco? How would you describe your look?
I don’t really think about clothes, but my friends always joke that I look like ‘an out-of-work painter’. I wear a lot of classic-cut men’s shirts and you will rarely find me in a skirt. I’ve always been a tomboy, so I guess that’s logical. If I’m going to an event, I’ll put on leather pants and biker boots. I have many, many white shirts.
Who or what inspires you?
Children inspire me; I love their minds. They naturally think and ask questions from first principles.
Where do you see yourself in five years?
I’ve been finishing a sci-fi children’s book, so hopefully I’ll be on the sequel by then. I’m interested in advancing scientific discovery, whether that be through human intelligence amplification, artificial intelligence or rewiring the education system (or working on all three). I’ve also been thinking about taking up a PhD.
What music do you listen to?
I’m a ‘Dad’ music fan—lots of Led Zeppelin and classic rock. I take myself solo to see classical concerts; I think I saw Handel’s Messiah three times in one week last year. I like Jamie XX and James Blake.
Tell us three things that very few people know about you?
I’ve had a secret pseudonym that I’ve used to publish philosophical ideas online since I was a teenager. I go back and critique my own thoughts over time.
I lived in a homeless shelter with my mother between the ages of 10 and 14.
I like to rap Eminem and Kanye West lyrics at karaoke (really, really badly!).
