Most AI research and product development is conducted by actors who are primarily commercially motivated, and the plethora of our ethical discussions are focused on ensuring commercially driven AI research and development does not explicitly harm human rights or set back democracy. There is less discussion about how we can create a future in which AI is actively pro-democracy, pro-inclusion, pro-rights, and, ultimately, pro-humanity. What kind of ecosystem would that require? Can we take inspiration from the open source movement or public-interest technology development? Should governments play a role?
My organization just launched a major project on "Democracy 2030", an effort to harness technological developments in ways that actively support democratic goods and accountable governance. Over the next several years, we will invest in scaling solutions that have been deployed at the local level all around the world; building a global community of democratically minded-optimists deploying technology for social good; and in creating the ecosystems that lead to public-interest technology development. My hope is that this session will generate ideas for those investments.
How will you deal with varying numbers of participants in your session?:The goal of this session is to be as conversational and creative as possible - to generate as much critical thinking about the challenge, and as many creative potential solutions as possible. With three people, that conversation can be relatively freewheeling. With 30, it will be a more structured and actively facilitated discussion.
The more critical question is diversity. If attendees are not diverse, additional follow up conversations will be hosted outside of mozfest to account for that.
Amy Studdart leads Digital Democracy programs at IRI, and is co-founder of Villager, a start-up working to bring democracy into the 21st century.