DESIGN JUSTICE AI is an interdisciplinary collaboration exploring  community-centered engagement of  “Generative AI” (the statistical modeling and synthesis of human languages, communication, arts, and cultures).

Program

Global Humanities Institute 2024
Design Justice AI

June 30 - July 13, 2024 | Pretoria, South Africa

Associate professor at Northeastern University and a faculty affiliate at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society

Professor of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies and Africana Studies at Rutgers; Director of the Race and Gender Equity (RAGE) Lab at Rutgers; co-founder of the Crunk Feminist Collective.

Associate Fellow at the Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence, a research scientist and lead at DeepMind in London, founder and trustee of the Deep Learning Indaba, and an Honorary Professor of University College London

Brooklyn-based writer and finance editor of Logic(s) Magazine and co-host of This Machine Kills, focusing on Silicon Valley, technology, finance, and labor.

Postdoctoral Fellow at the Digital Life Initiative at Cornell Tech, researcher and activist with work covered in Motherboard, MIT Technology Review, Wired, and Fortune. 

PROGRAM

Sunday, June 30 | Day One
6 PM SAST: Welcome Dinner   

Professor Themba Mosia Interim Vice-Chancellor, University of Pretoria

Welcome to Future Africa

Monday, July 1 | Day Two
9:15 AM SAST: Tea & Coffee
10 AM – 12 PM SAST: Welcome & Keynote Address
Interim Vice-Chancellor Themba Mosia

Kwesi Kwaa Prah: “African Languages in an AI World”

Introduced by Vukosi Marivate Data Science, UP

3 PM – 5 PM SAST: Keynote Interview

Sasha Costanza-Chock  interviewed by Matthew Stone Computer Science, Rutgers & Katherine Bode Digital Humanities, ANU

Moderated by Abiodun Modupe

Tuesday, July 2 | Day Three
9:15 AM SAST: Tea & Coffee
10 AM – 12 PM SAST: Design Justice Methods and Humanitarian Migration

Godfrey Chitsauko Muyambi Science and Technology Education, U of South Africa 

“The Intersection of Community-Led and Design Justice Methods”

Alphoncina Lyamuya Communication, USC Annenberg

“Rethinking Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Humanitarian and Migration Management”

Respondent: Emma Ruttkamp-Bloem Philosophy, University of Pretoria

3 PM – 5 PM SAST: Plenary Panel on Accountability and Online Safety
Abeba Birhane: “Decolonizing AI?” 

Algorithm audits have for years been part of the conversation in the context of online platforms, but are just beginning to emerge as a mode of external oversight and evaluation regarding the deployment of “automated decision systems” and making their way into critical policy proposals as a primary mechanism for algorithmic accountability.

Brittney Cooper: “Safety for Whom or What? Black Feminist Perspectives on AI”

Black feminism can inform conversations about what artificial intelligence is, how we can account for its knowledge claims, and what that means for how we use it. In order to figure out what it will mean to make online platforms safer for digital Black feminists, it means we have to ask fundamental questions about what those who are building AI understand safety to mean.

The Plenary Panel begins at 29:35 on the video below. 

Introduced by Kate Henne AI Regulation and Justice, ANU

Wednesday, July 3 | Day Four
9:15 AM SAST: Tea & Coffee
10 AM – 12 PM SAST: Gender, Justice, and Generative AI

Filipa Calado Princeton (presenting virtually)

“Homo-Generator: Studying Gender Bias in Large Language Models”

John Viana ANU

“From ChatGPT to ChatCBT: Design Justice in Generative AI for Mental Health”

Respondent: Pamela K. Gilbert English, University of Florida

3 PM – 5 PM SAST: Plenary Panel on Justice, Auditing, and Participation

Inioluwa Deb Raji: “Audits and Accountability in the Age of Automated Decision Systems”

When algorithms fall short of articulated expectations, people get hurt.

Shakir Mohamed: Visions of Justice through Participatory AI”

Participation of communities in the design advanced technologies is one vision for establishing inclusive and collaborative AI and technology development. There is now great deal of discussion on how to incorporate and enact participatory AI methods, and also a rich critique of the limitations of these methods. I’ll use examples from general language model design, AI and creativity, and weather forecasting, to explore different types of participatory AI, and to open a discussion about the possible forms of design and deployment that may allow AI systems to meaningfully serve people and communities.

Introduced by Matthew Stone Computer Science, Rutgers

Thursday, July 4 | Day Five
9:15 AM SAST: Tea & Coffee
10 AM – 12 PM SAST: Evidence, Data, and Postcoloniality

Nombuyiselo Zondi Education, U Pretoria

“Redesigning Frequency Vocabulary Lists: Evidence from Magazines, Newspapers and LTMS Materials in Sesotho Language Systems”

Chinasa T. Okolo Governance Studies, Brookings Institute

“Datafication and Postcolonial Discontinuities: Examining the Sociodigital Marginalization of Africa”

Respondent: Nomadlozi Bokaba African Languages, U Pretoria

3 PM – 5 PM SAST: Plenary Panel on AI Labor and Activism

Daniel Motaung and Edward Ongweso, Jr. 

Introduced by Rachel Gill Art & Design, Rutgers

Friday, July 5 | Day Six
9:15 AM SAST: Tea & Coffee
10 AM – 12 PM SAST: Modeling and Mediating Data Relations

Kingsley Owadara Pan-African Center for AI Ethics

“Indigenous Data Sovereignty in Algorithm Modeling”

Favour Borokini Computer Science, University of Nottingham

“Exploring How Human Subjectivities and Mediating Technologies Interact”

Respondent: Kath Bode Literature and Textual Studies, ANU

3 PM – 5 PM SAST: Mutual Aid and Liberated Worlds

Lara Dal Molin Sociology, Politics, and Articifial Intelligence, University of Edinburgh: “Addressing Gender Bias in Generative Pretrained Transformer (GPT) Language Models through Design Justice”

Rogelio E. Cardona-Rivera Computer Science, University of Utah: “Culturally Sustaining/Revitalizing Artificial Intelligence for Generating Virtual Realities toward Liberated Worlds”

Respondent: Lauren M.E. Goodlad Critical AI, Rutgers

Saturday, July 6 | Day Seven

Discotech

Sunday, July 7 | Day Eight

Excusion

Monday, July 8 | Day Nine
9:15 AM SAST: Tea & Coffee
10 AM – 12 PM SAST: Democracy Equity, Sovereignty

Eleanora Lima Visiting Research Fellow, Trinity College, Dublin

“The Knowledge Technologies for Democracy Project: Fostering Civic Participation in Democracy by Harnessing the Benefits of AI and Big Data”

Harry Winner Kamden Fezeu Math, Computing, U of Yaounde, U of Mohammed

“Decentralizing AI: Ensuring Equity through Sovereignty”

Respondent:  Lauren M.E. Goodlad Critical AI, Rutgers

1:30 PM SAST:

Pamela K. Gilbert English, University of Florida

“Nineteenth-Century Origins of Emotion Recognition”

 
3 PM – 5 PM SAST: Plenary Panel on Decolonization and Beyond

David Gray Widder & Tamara Kneese: Salvage Anthropology and ‘Low Resource NLP’: What Computer Science Can Learn from Anthropology’s ‘Critical Turn’”

We show how the unchallenged notion of “good” can go painfully awry, unless accompanied by an examination of how or for whom “good” is defined. We do this through an analysis of anthropology’s reflexive or critical turn: we compare “Low Resource NLP”—which attempts to build computational tools that work equally well on languages in the Global South as they do in English, with salvage anthropology—an ethnographic practice that sought to preserve supposedly dying Indigenous cultures for posterity.

Tuesday, July 9 | Day Ten
9:15 AM SAST: Tea & Coffee
9:45 AM – 12 PM SAST: AI Places, Traces, Spaces

Charlotte Bradley Cybernetics, ANU (presenting virtually)

“Re-theatricalizing AI”

Ai Onubogu English, Rutgers 

“Uses of Machine Learning to Mutual Aid Networks in Newark’s Ironbound District”

Sayak Roy Geography, UIUC

“Night Policy Design: Inhabiting AI through Routine Improvisation and Disordering”

Respondent: Matthew Stone Computer Science, Rutgers

3 PM – 5 PM SAST: Under and Over the Hood

Nicky Agate Carnegie Mellon University Libraries

“Open and Ethical Approaches to AI and Algorithmic Literacy

Will Orr Communication, USC Annenberg

“Rethinking Dataset Creation

Respondent: Michael P. Lynch Philosophy, U Connecticut

Wednesday, July 10 | Day Eleven
9:15 AM SAST: Tea & Coffee
10 AM – 12 PM SAST: Humans and Their Discontents

Berhan Taye Practitioner Fellow, Digital Civil Society Lab, Stanford U

“The Plight of AI Production Pipeline Workers”

Trudee Coetzee Philosophy and AI Ethics, University of Pretoria

“Higher Education, Critical Psychology & Chat GPT: Pursuing the Human(E) Route Towards Generative Artificial Intelligence Integration”

Respondent: Edward Ongweso, Jr. Author; Finance Editor for Logics

3 PM – 5 PM SAST: Design Justice Labs In-Person Meeting
Thursday, July 11 | Day Twelve 
9:15 AM SAST: Tea & Coffee
10 AM – 12 PM SAST: Tech Practices as Navigating Information, Knowledges, and Publics

Burcu Baykurt Media Studies, U Massechusetts Amherst

“Gov-Tech: The “Moral Economy of Capturing Public Information”

Koffi Nomedji Cultural Anthropology, Duke U

Harvesting Insights: Navigating the Confluence of Advanced AI Technologies and Indigenous Knowledge in African Smallholder Farming

Respondent: Kate Henne AI Regulation and Justice, ANU

3 PM – 5 PM SAST: Design Justice Labs In-Person Meeting
Friday, July 12 | Day Thirteen
9:15 AM SAST: Tea & Coffee
10 AM – 12 PM SAST: Literacy and Safety

Alia El Kattan Politics, NYU

“Creative Technology for Critical AI Literacy”

Noelle Martin Tech & Policy Lab, U Western Australia

Unsafe at Any Scale: Technologies of Human Replication

Respondent: Vukosi Marivate Data Science, UP

2:45 PM – 5 PM SAST: Governmentality and Collaborative Storytelling

Anirban Mukhopadhyay Media Studies, U of Illinois Urbana

“Unveiling AI Governmentality: State Power, Citizenship and AI Justice in India”

Oluwafunmilayo Akinpelu English, U Alabama

The Transformative Role of Generative AI in Creating a Surge of Collaborative Interactive Storytelling Practices in West Africa

Noah Ọládélé Media, Culture, and Communication, NYU “Reimagining African Cultural Performance through Digital Archive”

Respondent: Eleni Coundouriotis English, U Connecticut

Saturday, July 13 | Day Fourteen

Departure

Founder and Director of the Centre for Advanced Studies of African Society (CASAS), author, public speaker, and Sociology professor

Senior Fellow in Trustworthy AI at Mozilla Foundation; Assistant Professor at Trinity College. Researches human behavior, social systems, and responsible and ethical AI.

Fellow, Mozilla Foundation

Founder & Chairperson, Safe Content Advocacy Network, advocate for digital rights, labor activism, and the creation of a safer online environment. 

Senior Researcher and Project Director, Data & Society Research Institute, Algorithmic Impact Methods Lab, University of California, Berkeley

Institute Schedule At a Glance

DESIGN JUSTICE AI Participants include the co-PIs at all four collaborating institutes as well as the below, affiliated faculty, and a representative from Design Justice Network.

Rutgers University, Center for Cultural Analysis (CCA)

  • Lauren M. E. Goodlad: Distinguished Professor of English & Comparative Literature, Chair of the Critical AI @ Rutgers initiative, and editor of Critical AI
  • Matthew Stone: Professor and Chair of Computer Science at Rutgers
  • Brittney Cooper: Professor of Africana Studies/Women’s, Gender, & Sexuality Studies; a scholar of Black women’s intellectual history and race and gender politics, Cooper is currently working on sexism and racism in digital and social media contexts.
  • Alex Guerrero: Professor of Philosophy; a J.D. who specializes in moral and political philosophy as well as African and Native American Philosophy, Guerrerro has taught a recent graduate seminar on the Ethics and Politics of AI.  

Australian National University (ANU), Humanities Research Centre

  • Katherine Bode: Professor of Literary and Textual Studies and an Australian Research Council Future Fellow working on digital humanities, literary studies, and book history in the School of English, Languages and Literature at the Australian National University. Her research explores computation with literary theories and literature with computational theories.
  • Kate Henne: Director of the School of Regulation and Global Governance and the Justice and Technoscience Lab, Henne is also the Chief Investigator on the Humanizing Machine Intelligence Grand Challenge project; she researches the ways governance changes technological approaches. 
  • Adrian Mackenzie: Professor of Sociology whose research on “AI”’s impact on contemporary cultures includes the linkages between platform infrastructure and prediction, and large image collections.
  • Katrina Sluis: Head of Photography & Media Arts and co-director of the Computational Culture Lab, Sluis researches the datafication of photography and other implications of large image models.

University of Pretoria, Centre for Advancement of Scholarship

  • Vukosi Marivate: Chair of Data Science at the University of Pretoria and lead for the Data Science for Social Impact Group
  • Abiodun Modupe: Lecturer in Computer Science and specialist in the modeling of local African languages, Modupe is currently implementing a degree program in “Big Data Science” for the Data Science department.
  • Brenda Nomadlozi Bokaba, Lecturer in African Languages and Literature, Bokaba is an activist for multilingualism across South Africa and works with community partners on local African languages.  
  • Emma Ruttkamp-Bloem: Head of Philosophy, AI Ethics lead for the Centre for AI Research, and Chair of the Southern African Conference on AI Research (SACAIR), Ruttkamp-Bloem is an ethics policy researcher currently serving as a member of the UNESCO World Commission for Ethics of Scientific Knowledge and Technology (IUHPST).

University of Connecticut, Humanities Institute (UCHI)

  • Eleni Coundouriotis: Professor of English and Comparative Literary and Cultural Studies, Coundouriotis researches African literature and human rights.
  • Anna Mae Duane: Professor of English and Director of the University of Connecticut Humanities Institute, Duane researches nineteenth-century American literature and African American literature with specializations in childhood and disability studies.

Design Justice Network (DJN)

  • Wesley Taylor: Assistant Professor in the Department of Graphic Design at Virginia Commonwealth University, member of the Design Justice Steering Committee, Taylor is a print maker, graphic designer, musician, animator, educator, mentor and curator whose practice is rooted in social justice.

We are grateful to all of the above faculty for their input as well as to CCA Business Managers Matt Leonaggeo and Vi Hom, Rutgers Grants Specialist Justin Samolewicz, the Critical AI @ Rutgers team (Kelsey Keyes, Andi Craciun, Jai Yadav, Sabrina Burns, and, formerly, Kristin Rose and Jennifer Vilchez), Wesley Taylor for his original artwork, and Leona Cheung for her design of this website.

Share this:

Like this:

Like Loading...

Discover more from Critical AI

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading