Operationalizing decolonial AI through Ethics-as-a-Service
Abstract: With more than 80% of papers published at AI conferences since 2018 attributed to authors in East Asia, North America, or Europe, efforts in AI Ethics risk being futile if they continue to fail to account for the cultural and regional contexts in which AI operates. Meanwhile, two concepts have garnered increasing prominence in the same time period. The first is decolonial AI, and the second is Ethics as a Service. Each has its own merits that offer needed contributions and improvements in the design and deployment of Artificial intelligence. Decolonial AI acknowledges the evolution of value and power, and leverages historical hindsight to explain patterns of said power that shape our intellectual, political, economic, and social world. Employing foresight, it provides tactics to better align research and technology development with established ethical principles, centering vulnerable peoples who continue to bear the brunt of negative impacts of innovation and scientific progress. Meanwhile, Ethics as a Service offers an on-demand customizable approach to examining AI development and deployment on a case by case basis, and in a manner that can satisfy both the agreed upon principles and the technical translational tools tasked to fulfill them. It does so by calibrating said tools in a balanced fashion so they are not too flexible (and thus vulnerable to ethics washing) or too strict (unresponsive to context). Our research connects the two concepts and offers a practical framework for operationalizing the foresight and tactics provided by decolonial AI when deploying Ethics as a Service. In doing so, our research first provides a global list of some of the most prominent regional and cultural values and a replicable methodology for sourcing and identifying more. Second, our research takes a given AI deployment scenario at hand and provides answers to the following questions: how to select the values (Western or not) that befit said scenario, how to interpret each value selected, and what's the roadmap for operationalizing said value, via software tools, akin to existing approaches with more literature-popular values such as explainability and fairness.
Author bios: Daricia earned her Ph.D. in Human-Centered Computing at Clemson University. Her dissertation investigated alternative pathways for the design of justice-oriented safety countermeasures particularly for people in non-Western contexts. During her tenure as a graduate student, she has been fortunate to have been selected as Meta Fellow (formerly Facebook), Google Scholar, and a Trailblazer in research by the United Nations for her work on online safety in the Caribbean.
Saif Malhem is the founding co-chair of the AI Future Lab: the largest global lab for millennials and Gen Z’s in artificial intelligence, built by members of the World Economic Forum’s Global Shapers Community. In 2022, the AI Future Lab launched the world’s youth AI manifesto at the International Telecommunication Union’s Generation Connect conference in Kigali, Rwanda. For his leadership in AI and climate technology, Saif was named one of Canada's Top 30 Under 30 in sustainability in 2020. He is an engineering professional with experience in Fortune 500, nonprofit and start-up environments. Within the Global Shapers Community, Saif sits on the impact council and was one of the #Davos50 Global Shapers invited to attend the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting in 2022. Saif has been a public speaker and public speaking coach for over 10 years and has spoken at a number of international conferences in India, Germany, and Canada. Paul Sedille Paul Sédille is a Belfer Center Student Fellow pursuing a joint degree between the Harvard Kennedy School and Stanford Graduate School of Business. Prior to this degree, he lived 10 years in China, working as a writer and videographer in Hong Kong and Beijing. His research interests cover China, media, and tech, from US-China relations to new media business models. He is a member of Global Shapers, where he has worked on digital literacy, public involvement in AI, refugee rights, and ocean conservation. Paul is a graduate of the Beijing Film Academy, Sciences Po Paris, and Sorbonne University.
Kathy Kim is a lead data scientist and data strategist with the Booz Allen Hamilton CTO Artificial Intelligence (AI) Integrated Management Team (IMT). She has extensive experience in engaging federal agencies on topics including data governance, policy, architecture, other specialized technologies, and national security. She previously supported the Millennium Challenge Corporation’s MCC-PEPFAR Data Collaboratives for Local Impact (DCLI) program and also the Aspen Institute Philanthropy & Social Innovation Nonprofit Data Project as a William Randolph Hearst Fellow. Kathy received her bachelor's degree in international studies from American University's School of International Service and also the SIS Resonator's Award for Outstanding Service upon graduation. She recently received a certificate the Center for Asian Pacific American Women (CAPAW) "Unleash the S(Hero) in You", a one-year long Women's Leadership Program funded by the Walmart Center for Racial Equity. In her spare time, Kathy runs a 501c7 organization, WEF Global Shapers Community DC, and leads pro bono career coaching services for first-generation college students and BIPOC professionals.
Nupur Kohli is an award-winning healthcare leader, advisor and medical doctor. She previously worked as a medical advisor to the largest health insurance company in the Netherlands. Nupur is an appointed member of the European Health Parliament which aims to create a resilient European Health Union. She is also a supervisory board member for UNICEF Netherlands and member of International Advisory Board of Amsterdam Economic Board. Nupur aspires to make healthcare better, more efficient and accessible. Her expertise extends to building resilient health systems, social determinants of health, health equity, stress and productivity beyond. Nupur actively contributes to the World Economic Forum projects: Chatbots RESET, Generation AI: Developing Artificial Intelligence Standards for Children and a shared learnings platform on the transformative role of women and girls in health.
[Please note that the authors of this presentation requested not to be recorded]
#Ethics #DecolonialApproaches
