Desirable Digitalisation Programme Kick-Off
The formal kick-off of the 5-year research programme “Desirable Digitalisation: Rethinking AI for Just and Sustainable Futures” took place on 23 September, 2022 at the Center for Science and Thought in Bonn.
The research programme is a collaboration between the University of Cambridge and the University of Bonn and is funded by Stiftung Mercator. In the course of the programme, a team of researchers based in the UK and Germany will collaborate with international partners to address some of the most pressing questions concerning the relationship between the development and regulation of new technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI), and the goals of social justice and environmental sustainability:
How can we meaningfully assess whether and how AI systems violate fundamental rights and values?
How does AI development impact the environment and how can we foster truly sustainable approaches to technology production?
What does desirable technology development look like? And who gets to determine what counts as ‘desirable’?
Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Michael Hoch, the Rector of the University of Bonn, opened the event, expressing great hopes for the existing partnership between the two universities to provide a sound basis for research into ethical technology development. Following the Rector’s speech, the University of Cambridge’s Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research, Professor Anne Ferguson-Smith, emphasised the importance of adopting a deeply interdisciplinary approach to AI research, one that Cambridge is fully committed to – as evidenced by the work of the University’s Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence (LCFI). Mona Neubauer, State Minister for Economics, Industry, Climate Protection and Energy of North Rhine-Westphalia, addressed the researchers, local policymakers, and technologists gathered for the kick-off event, stressing the need for considering democratic values in assessing the risks and benefits of AI development. Finally, Dr. Wolfgang Rohe, Chairman of the Executive Board of Stiftung Mercator, explained how the Desirable Digitalisation programme’s goals map onto Stiftung Mercator’s plans to support the development of digital technologies in accordance with democratic rights and values.
The opening speeches were followed by a panel discussion, moderated by Carla Hustedt (Stiftung Mercator), on the gaps in research and policy in which the Desirable Digitalisation programme can intervene. The panellists – Catherine Miller (Director of the European AI Fund), Professor Aimee van Wynsberghe (Director of the AI Sustainability Lab, University of Bonn, and Co-Principal Investigator of the Desirable Digitalisation programme in Bonn), and Dr. Stephen Cave (Director of LCFI and Principal Investigator of the Desirable Digitalisation programme in Cambridge) – discussed current developments and future goals for AI. Stressing the fact that apps, programs and AI systems are the products of countless human choices, the panellists talked about the need to reflect on AI as a complex technology embedded within historical constellations marked by social inequalities. They also considered how the Desirable Digitalisation programme can facilitate a translation of these reflections into new policy standards and design practices.
Later, Professor Markus Gabriel, Dr. Kanta Dihal and Professor Aimee van Wynsberghe presented anthropological, intersectional and ethical perspectives on AI that represent different dimensions of the sub-projects that comprise the Desirable Digitalisation programme. Professor Gabriel’s talk explored how anthropological approaches to AI as a ‘socio-technology’ can help us better explore the ways in which new technologies change human behaviour and the very idea of what it means to be human. Dr. Dihal discussed how specific groups have been intersectionally disadvantaged by racist, colonial, sexist, and ageist practices, and why AI development must be informed by intersectional analysis to ensure that new technologies do good for as many people as possible. Finally, Professor Aimee van Wynsberghe spoke about the need to reflect on the hidden environmental costs of training and deploying AI systems, as well as the role of ethicists as permanent members of AI design teams.
In the afternoon session, the Desirable Digitalisation research fellows delivered short presentations on the topics that they will explore as part of the programme, covering areas such as: AI and the history and philosophy of mathematics (Dr. Audrey Borowski); AI and gender (Dr. Eleanor Drage); AI and restorative design for the environment (Dr. Tomasz Hollanek); literary perspectives on technology development from the Global South (Dr. Ana Ilievska); AI and racism targeting Asian populations (Dr. Kerry Mackereth); AI and ageism (Dr. Rune Nyrup); and the history of AI and feminist thought (Dr. Apolline Taillandier).
More information about the subprojects within the Desirable Digitalisation programme and future events can be found here: https://www.desirableai.com.
