The public release of ChatGPT, an AI-powered chatbot by OpenAI, in November 2022, percolated the public consciousness with the disruptive potential, both incredible and iniquitous, of emerging general-purpose AI technologies. In the following months, AI has dominated the public discourse and imagination, with tech organizations trying to capture the attention of digital natives with an ever increasing number and versions of bots, tools, and APIs.
The AI dialogue, though, has preceded the current sensationalism with strands of both optimism – of the potential of a malleable cognitive capacity resource – and skepticism – of techno utopian and technocratic promises. In this discourse, voices and concerns about development, economic justice, and global equity from the Global South, marginalized identities, and other vulnerable sections – the classes who have traditionally been excluded and expelled from the gains of the digital revolution and are most vulnerable to harm – have remained at the periphery.
From the standpoint of the Global South, IT for Change has engaged with unpacking the AI revolution, straddling design justice questions with a broader political economy perspective on the dilemmas of AI governance. Our research and policy engagement seeks to center development sovereignty questions.
Research Outputs
T20 Policy Brief-The Invisible Layer: Protecting Data Workers in Global AI Value Chains
Nov 2025: Data workers are indispensable to continually train AI models and enhance the accuracy of their outcomes. However, despite their vital role in AI value chains, these workers encounter serious decent work deficits such as exploitative wages, workplace surveillance, automated evaluation, absence of welfare benefits, poor mental health outcomes, arbitrary termination, and refusal of wages. The G20 Generic Framework for Mapping Global Value Chains is a useful starting point for investigating vulnerabilities in global value chains. This brief, submitted under Task Force 01: Trade and Investment, aims to build on this mandate to identify how workers’ rights are imperilled by fragmented and precarious AI value chains, and provide an evidentiary basis for policymaking in this regard. In addition, our Executive Director, Anita Gurumurthy, was appointed as co-lead of the sub-theme Regulation of Emerging Technologies under the Digital Transformation Task Force of T20.
Towards Substantive Equality in Artificial Intelligence: Transformative AI Policy for Gender Equality
Nov 2024: IT for Change acted as project consultants for the project 'Towards Substantive Equality in Artificial Intelligence: Transformative AI Policy for Gender Equality and Diversity'. The project was led by Paola Ricaurte Quijano (Tecnológico de Monterrey and Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society, Harvard University) and Benjamin Prud’homme (Mila - Quebec Artificial Intelligence Institute) under the aegis of the GPAI Responsible AI Working Group. As project consultants, we contributed to the development of a research framework to analyze the findings from regional consultations and specific policy recommendations to incorporate gender equality and diversity considerations in AI. The report was launched at Anita Gurumurthy has been invited to participate in the “Towards Substantiative Equality In AI Conference 2024”, organized by Mila - Quebec Artificial Intelligence Institute and CEIMIA on 26th November 2024.
T20 Policy Brief- Governing Computational Infrastructure for Strong and Just AI Economies
Jun 2024: The development of artificial intelligence (AI) today is hindered by limited computational power, largely controlled by concentrated markets dominated by Big Tech. High-performance chips crucial for large AI models are further restricted through vertical integration and a centralized cloud market. As AI's economic importance grows, access to computational resources is increasingly seen as pivotal in shaping socio-economic well-being and political decision-making. This divide is stark between academia and industry, and amplified between the Global South and North, and between public and private sectors. This policy brief, submitted to the taskforce on ‘Inclusive Digital Transformation’ T20 G20 Brazil, proposes that the G20 establish guidelines for governing computational resources. This should include commitments to open compute paradigms, a thorough assessment of environmental impacts, and so on. Such measures aim to ensure every nation can develop robust AI economies that promote economic justice and resilience.
Private Algorithms and Public Interest: Overhauling the Trade Secrets Regime for Equitable AI Futures
Jun 2024: The use of trade secrets to enclose the data undergirding artificial intelligence (AI) systems is a dimension that remains under-explored. IT for Change and Data Privacy Brasil submitted a policy brief to the T20 which posits that the data enclosed in trade secrets by digital transnational corporations has the effect of stifling genuine innovation and makes AI systems non-transparent and unexplainable. While trade secret regimes are important for the functioning of innovative markets, they have tended to extend outwards and cover an increasing number of information goods of the nature of data in both commercial and non-commercial contexts. The policy brief, submitted to the taskforce on ‘Inclusive Digital Transformation’ T20-G20 Brazil, recommends that Intellectual Property (IP) regimes must be recalibrated for an equitable and accountable AI paradigm, and overexpansion of IP must be checked.
Beyond the North-South Fork on the Road to AI Governance: An Action Plan for Democratic & Distributive Integrity
Read the full white paper here
Mar 2022: Informed by discussions within a 21-member expert working group, of which our executive director, Anita Gurumurthy is a part, assembled by Initiate: Digital Rights in Society and the Paris Peace Forum, this paper proposes that AI constitutionalism and a rights-based approach should guide the development of high-level international protocols and conventions that will set policymaking standards for AI’s development and deployment, worldwide, and recommends several key actions to work toward a less fragmented AI policy landscape that incorporates the interests and concerns of Global South countries.
Reconceptualising Development in Times of Digital Intelligence
Sep 2019: As AI becomes pervasive, it reinvents the systemic logic that underpins social institutions and their norms and practices and rewrites economic, governance, and social processes. The idea of development that AI technologies seem to endorse need to be carefully scrutinized so that these may be redirected towards equitable ends. IT for Change's project, Reconceptualising Development in Times of Digital Intelligence, is aimed at exploring these themes.
As part of this project, we explored the growing role of AI in governance, agriculture, finance, education, and ports sector through a series of essays.
Policy Engagements
IT for Change’s Submission on the Draft Amendments to the Information Technology Rules, 2021, Relating to Synthetically Generated Information
Read the detailed submission here.
Nov 2025: IT for Change submitted its feedback/comments on the draft amendment to the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 ("IT Rules") relating to synthetically generated information released by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology. Our submission highlighted two key issues of the proposed amendment on the adequacy of labeling and user declarations and the inadequacy of IT Rules as a substitute for a comprehensive governance framework for AI.
IT for Change’s Submission to the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology Sub-Committee Report on AI Governance Guidelines Development
Read the detailed submission here.
Mar 2025: IT for Change responded to the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (“MeitY”) sub-committee’s Report on AI Governance Guidelines Development. Our comments largely addressed the need to address issues around generative AI, mitigating bias in AI training, and improving transparency.
Global Digital Justice Forum’s Inputs to the OHCHR on the use of AI and the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights
Read the detailed submission here.
Feb 2025: In response to the call for inputs by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), IT for Change as part of the Global Digital Justice Forum, contributed to the thematic report on ‘The Use of Artificial Intelligence and the UNGPs’. Our response highlighted the key human rights risks linked to AI procurement and deployment by states and businesses across various sectors, including law enforcement, welfare, health, education, agriculture, etc. Furthermore, we advocated for governments to devise stronger accountability frameworks for AI developers and deployers in both public and private sectors. States should also take measures to ensure meaningful and inclusive public participation in decision-making processes related to AI procurement and deployment, and institute effective mechanisms for grievance redressal.
Global Digital Justice Forum’s Submission to the UN Survey on the Independent International Scientific Panel on AI and the Global Dialogue on AI Governance
Read the detailed submission here.
Some members of the Global Digital Justice Forum—IT for Change, APC, Global Partners Digital, Derechos Digitales, and Media Monitoring Africa—collectively prepared a submission in response to a UN survey to identify the terms of reference and modalities for the establishment and functioning of the Independent International Scientific Panel on AI and the Global Dialogue on AI Governance, to be established within the United Nations.
Our submission was based on the premise that the development, deployment, and impact of AI are deeply interwoven with existing power structures, economic models, labor dynamics, and geopolitical interests.
IT for Change's Comments on UNESCO's Consultation Paper on AI Regulation
Read the detailed submission here.
Oct 2024: IT for Change submitted comments on the recently released UNESCO Consultation Paper on Regulatory Approaches for Artificial Intelligence (AI). The Consultation Paper is part of a broader effort by UNESCO, the Inter-Parliamentary Union, and the Internet Governance Forum’s Parliamentary Track to engage parliamentarians globally and enhance their capacities in evidence-based policymaking for AI. The Consultation Paper, which will be published as a policy brief, aims to inform legislators about the different regulatory approaches to AI that are being considered worldwide by legislative bodies.
IT for Change’s Response to OSET’s AI Opportunity Scan
Aug 2024: Responding to OSET’s AI opportunity scan, this submission cautions against techno-solutionism in AI policymaking. It emphasizes the need to situate AI innovation within broader socio-economic, institutional, and development contexts.
IT for Change’s Response to the UN AI Advisory Body’s Interim Report on Governing AI for Humanity
Mar 2024: The UN Secretary-General's AI Advisory Body launched its Interim Report: Governing AI for Humanity. The report’s proposal to strengthen and enhance the international governance of artificial intelligence (AI) is an important starting point towards bridging the critical global-level digital policy gap that widens with every passing day. IT for Change responded to the interim report with a focus on opportunities and enablers, risks and challenges, and guiding principles to form global governance institutions for AI. As part of its global consultation with stakeholders, the AIAB convened several ‘deep dive’ sessions on specific topics, themes, or sectors with relevant experts between March and June 2024 to which IT for Change was invited.
IT for Change’s Submission to the FID Working Group on AI and its Implications for the Information & Communication Space
Read the detailed submission here.
November 2023: IT for Change made a submission to the Working Group on Artificial Intelligence constituted by the Forum on Information and Democracy. In February 2024, the Forum on Information and Democracy launched its Policy Framework, AI as a Public Good: Ensuring Democratic Control of AI in the Information Society, which calls for a paradigm shift to treat AI as a public good to make it work for society and democracy. Its recommendations are addressed to actors including AI developers, deployers, and governments, calling upon them to implement concrete and practicable measures to build more ethical, inclusive and responsible AI systems.
IT for Change's Response to the DoT Consultation Paper on the AI Stack
Oct 2020: IT for Change responded to the Department of Telecom’s (DoT) consultation paper on the Artificial Intelligence Stack released by its AI Standardization Committee in September 2020. The development of a broad framework for standards to solve potential challenges that may emerge from the deployment of AI solutions across the country will be helpful in framing future discussions on the creation of guidelines or regulations by the Government of India as the technology continues to mature. However, we found several instances of lack of clarity in articulation of issues and recommendations in the paper which we highlighted in our submission.
Events
Towards Regenerative AI: Frames for Inclusive, Indigenous, and Intentional Innovation
Oct 2025: IT for Change, in partnership with the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung and with support from the European Commission, is convening a two-day global dialogue titled ‘Towards Regenerative AI: Frames for Inclusive, Indigenous, and Intentional Innovation’, an official Pre-Summit Event of the India - AI Impact Summit 2026, on 30 October - 1 November 2025 at the Infosys Science Foundation (ISF), Bengaluru. The event brought together around 50 leading researchers, technology practitioners, and policymakers from India, the EU, and beyond to chart the course for a regenerative AI paradigm that foregrounds inclusivity, indigenous knowledge, and intentional design. The dialogue interrogated the political economy of contemporary AI — dominated by a handful of transnational corporations — and engaged with alternative pathways that cultivate equity, ecological stewardship, and democratic oversight. It aims to generate actionable insights for policy and research priorities in regenerative AI, advancing locally grounded, socially just, and sustainable innovation. The deliberations and outcomes from this dialogue will help shape the agenda of the India AI Impact Summit 2026, offering critical and globally informed perspectives to the conversation.
Local AI: Policy Pathways for Sustainable Digital Economies
Read more about the session here.
June 2025: Co-organized by IT for Change and UNCTAD, this session at the Internet Governance Forum 2025 explored what kind of AI ecosystem powers small-is-beautiful digital economies. Speakers focused on the role of Local AI in driving a just and sustainable digital transition, in line with the Global Digital Compact’s call for inclusive digital cooperation. Anita Gurumurthy, Executive Director, IT for Change, outlined key dimensions of Local AI: energy-efficient computing, equitable data governance, algorithmic choices that advance epistemic justice, and macroeconomic strategies that foster diverse, community-driven innovation. This was followed by expert inputs on challenges that impede local AI innovation as well as policy pathways to promote local AI innovation.
AI, Regulation, and the Environment: Pathways to a Sustainable Planet
The event report is available here.
Sep 2024: The Secretariat for the Brazilian-German Digital Dialogue hosted a panel discussion on the topic, ‘AI, Regulation, and the Environment: Pathways to a Sustainable Planet’ on 10 July 2024 at 2 PM CEST/5.30 PM IST. The event was organized in partnership with the G20 engagement groups for Business (B20) and Think Thanks (T20). Stakeholders from the private sector, civil society, and academia discussed approaches and challenges of aligning artificial intelligence (AI) with environmental sustainability. Our Executive Director, Anita Gurumurthy, was invited to take part in the discussion, exploring the challenges and opportunities of AI regulation in supporting the green transition.
Breaking the Crucial Barriers in Global AI Governance
Know more about the summit here.
Sep 2024: Our Deputy Director, Nandini Chami, was invited to speak at a session on ‘Breaking the Crucial Barriers in Global AI Governance’ at the UN Science Summit on 10 September 2024. As artificial intelligence (AI) continues to shape the future, establishing a comprehensive global governance framework is more critical than ever. However, this effort faces major challenges. To discuss these challenges, the session brought together experts from various disciplines, regions, and industries. In particular, Nandini spoke on the multilateral approaches to AI governance, highlighting the gaps in current frameworks.
Global Learning and Strategic Convening: Political Economy of AI, Data, and Digital Technologies
Read Anita's input here.
Jun 2024: Our Executive Director, Anita Gurumurthy, was invited to participate in the “Global Learning and Strategic Convening on the Political Economy of AI, Data, and Digital Technologies” organized by the Global Fund for a New Economy between 21-22 June, 2024 in Mexico City, Mexico. The event aimed to lay the groundwork for a shared structural political economy analysis and to explore a proactive vision of technology that is governed to serve the public interest. Anita participated in an overview panel and discussion on the political economy of AI and digital technologies. Her contribution outlined how the deployment of AI and digital technologies is playing out globally, and impacting economic and public sectors in the Global South.
All Hands on Deck: Shaping an Inclusive Future of AI
Read highlights from Anita’s inputs at the session here.
Feb 2024: Our Executive Director, Anita Gurumurthy, took part in a session titled, ‘All Hands on Deck: Shaping an Inclusive Future of AI’ on 6 February 2024. The discussion was held as part of UNESCO’s ‘Global Forum on the Ethics of AI 2024’ in Kranj, Slovenia. Artificial intelligence (AI) processes and systems are too important and complex to be decided upon by a few stakeholders. Multistakeholder community engagement by academia, civil society, and the private sector can catalyze good AI governance and ensure that AI benefits all. This session spotlighted the contributions and significance of civil society in the multistakeholder governance of AI, with a special focus on the UNESCO repository of civil society organizations dedicated to AI. In her input, Anita focused on AI and global economic injustice, the need to decolonize the emerging tech, Big Tech influence, and much more.
Building a Human-AI Future
Watch the recording of the event here.
Aug 2023: How is artificial intelligence (AI) transforming the face and future of lives and work in India? What are the potential gains and pitfalls of AI for Indian businesses? How do we move forward while keeping compassion and consideration at the center of a human-and-AI world? Anita Gurumurthy took part in a panel discussion organized by the Asia Society India Centre, where speakers explored these questions. Along with Anita, Aakrit Vaish (Co-founder and CEO, Haptik), Karthik Reddy (Co-founder, Blume Ventures), and Anirudh Suri (Founding Partner, India Internet Fund) also took part in the discussion that was held on 8 August 2023.
Roundtable on Reframing AI Governance through a Political Economy Lens
Read the event report here.
Jun 2023: IT for Change organized a hybrid roundtable on Reframing AI governance through a political economy lens in Amsterdam, in collaboration with the Transnational Institute. This roundtable brought together a small group of scholars and activists to examine the building blocks of a transformative approach to AI governance. Both through in-person and via remote participation, participants made short, insightful provocations that examined the political economy considerations in AI governance and deliberated on the new institutional arrangements necessary to advance AI as a catalyst of generative and accountable economies and societies.
IT for Change's Proposed Resolution on Technology and Surveillance at Janta Parliament
Read our proposed resolution
Aug 2020: Anita Gurumurthy participated in a session on Technology and Surveillance for the Janta Parliament, a virtual peoples' Parliament. IT for Change presented a resolution on a framework law for digital rights at the parliament.
Watch the complete video of Anita’s statement here.
Making the AI-Development Connection at the AIES Conference 2020
Read the keynote here
Feb 2020: Anita Gurumurthy delivered the keynote at the Association for Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AAAI) and Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) conference on AI, Ethics and Society. Her presentation emphasized that thinking through the governance of AI needs new frameworks that can grapple with the fraught questions of data ownership, data sovereignty, economic democracy, and institutional ethics, in a global world with local aspirations. Any effort towards norm development in this domain will need to see the geo-economics of digital intelligence and the geo-politics of development ideologies as two sides of the same coin.
Find the complete presentation here.
Anita Gurumurthy at the Internet Governance Forum 2016 – Opening Session
Watch it here
Dec 2016: Anita Gurumurthy, representing IT for Change, was nominated to speak at the Opening Session of the Internet Governance Forum at Guadalajara, Mexico. In her address, Anita highlighted the growing unfreedoms of a datafied world and the urgent need for social movements to come together to develop an internet that can be individually empowering, collectively enriching and ecologically restorative through the democratic rule of law in global governance
AI and Education
Open Decentralized AI-based Assessments for English language teachers in government schools
Learn More
Jun 2024: This project has implemented a proof of concept (PoC) Artificial Intelligence (AI) / Machine Learning (ML)-driven software to support English language teachers in the public school system burdened with high teacher-pupil ratios. The software aids them in oral assessments, provides actionable recommendations, and enables them to monitor learners’ progress over time. The software promotes collaborative innovation and evolution because it is designed to be eventually released as Free and Open Source Software, and avoid problems of proprietary Ed-Tech AI offerings - vendor lock-ins, price increases, opaque data practices (constituting surveillance) and closed algorithms. With a decentralized architecture, the software can function on school desktops, and without internet, thereby promoting inclusivity and the ability to scale and sustain, unlike Ed-Tech models with centralized deployments on resource-intensive servers that require reliable internet connectivity. This software has been deployed as a Proof-of-Concept (PoC) project in a small number of government-run schools with the support and collaboration of the Kerala Education Department. The results from the PoC, in terms of supporting teachers to improve English teaching, have been encouraging.
Media Pieces
Artificial Data for Artificial Intelligence: Could This Be a Game Changer? (Bot Populi)
Read it here
May 2023: From being used to assess possible configurations of car crashes, to proposing new mathematical theorems, and training ad-delivery services synthetic data has a myriad of uses. But while synthetic data technology seems like a great solution to many problems of the modern tech sphere, it is certainly no magic bullet. Questions of fairness, reliability, and trust concern everyone involved in the industry, from annotators to engineers. Furthermore, the urgency of competent regulation before the technology robs value chains cannot be overstated. While examining these issues, this essay suggests ways to future-proof synthetic data, including policy measures that are immediately required toward this end.
Meet the New Influencers: Artificial Intelligence (Bot Populi)
Read it here
May 2023: Virtual influencers (VIs) have gained tremendous popularity in recent years owing to the rise of virtual reality technologies, Big Tech’s accelerated push toward the Metaverse, and brands expanding their focus on social media advertising. However, despite rising popularity and immense social media reach, VIs today have found themselves on the back foot with regard to a number of issues, including perpetuating racism, unrealistic body standards, and in some cases even becoming the puppets of high-end tech and lifestyle brands. What impact do these virtual beings have on their followers, and by extension, on society at large? This article attempts to answer these questions.
An ‘Atmanirbhar’ AI will Benefit India. Here’s Why (Hindustan TImes)
Read it here
Apr 2023: The release of ChatGPT was a disruptive moment which defined the notion of AI in public consciousness; about its power and its key role in society. Parminder Jeet Singh, in his article, writes about taking stock of what society should be doing about such an all-powerful phenomenon, which may determine the future course of humanity.
The Human Labor of Automation (Bot Populi)
Read it here
Dec 2022: Probing beyond the simplistic and apocalyptic prognoses of automation, Moritz Altenreid studies the configurations of human labor that are part of the development of AI, and the ways in which they are being subjected to a new form of ‘Taylorism’. Altenried’s essay analyzes how some elements of classical Taylorism – surveillance, measurement, deskilling – are manifesting under new circumstances, while also observing what is different about the digitalized version of this phenomenon from its industrial era avatar.
Artificial Intelligence and the Feminist Decolonial Imagination (Bot Populi)
Read it here
Jun 2022: Many economies in the Global North and Big Tech firms use AI as a geopolitical tool, which results in the concentration of wealth, knowledge, and control. Such a power concentration generates global asymmetries that contribute to the reproduction of oppressive systems such as capitalism, colonialism, and patriarchy. In the backdrop of this reality, this essay underscores the need to advance the feminist and decolonial imagination to develop AI technologies under ethical frameworks that consider the harms associated with the AI lifecycle. Furthermore, through examples of unique, community-led projects, this essay highlights how alternative AI technology can be developed to suit the best interests of local communities and empower them.
AI and Associated Tech Developments Hold Threats But Also Opportunities for Inclusive Growth in India (Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung)
Read it here
Dec 2020: Big data, mobile connectivity, and AI are dominating the daily lives of Indians faster than some predicted. But is the country poised to make the most of this technological revolution, or do we need to adjust the whole discourse and trajectory? IT for Change participates in this interview to shed light on ensuring disruptive yet constructive contribution through AI in different sectors.
A Plan for Indian Self-Sufficiency in an AI-Driven World (Mint)
Read it here
Jul 2020: Geo-political and economic power in the industrial age was determined by one’s expertise in manufacturing. In a digital society, it’s likely to be based on command over AI. In this op-ed, Parminder Jeet Singh writes about the development of AI and what it entails for nation-states; their data, economies, and polities.
Deep Unlearning? AI and Africa’s Struggling Public Institutions (Bot Populi)
Read it here
Jul 2020: This article focuses on the importance of responsible use of AI in the African context. It outlines the ethical questions associated with AI as its global use increases across domains including healthcare, agriculture, law-enforcement, etc. It examines how AI is being used by authoritarian regimes to surveil their citizens, and by entertainment platforms to polarize public opinions and make us 'digital serfs'. It also brings to light the algorithmic biases based on data optimization techniques. The author warns of a darker future for AI as citizens are forced to choose between healthcare and data privacy during the pandemic. He advocates for a rights-based approach to AI in Africa which will ensure that it works for the majority and not a select few.
In a New AI-Led World Order, We Need to Rewrite the Rules of Data Capitalism
Read it here
Mar 2020: In the scramble for AI-led development, what would global algorithmic justice look like? Anita Gurumurthy answers the question in a two-part on the new AI economy, a part of Open Democracy’s 'Decolonising the economy' series.
In the first part, Anita writes about the current discourse around AI and ethics and how it affects and is affected by the sense of immediacy percolating in governments around the world to capture the AI moment. In the second part, Anita explores the question about whether AI will be a weapon of social injustice or an agent of positive change? Her submission that it depends on the stories we choose to weave.
Governance of Data and Artificial Intelligence (Bot Populi)
Read it here
July 2019: Platform corporations, with their machine learning models, reproduce structural gender and racial discrimination. Public awareness and detailed knowledge about how algorithms are shaped by biases and political or economic interests and how this impacts women’s opportunities and policy making are currently missing. This article explores how growing digitalization is shaping public policy spaces and shifting the ways in which we understand our civic, political, economic, social and cultural rights.
What “Datafication” means for the Right to Development (Bot Populi)
Read it here
June 2019: Ansgar Koene is a Senior Research Fellow at the Horizon Institute for Digital Economy Research (University of Nottingham) and chairs the IEEE working group for the P7003 Standard for Algorithmic Bias Considerations. In this interview, Ansgar responds to questions about regulating bias in AI and the viability of AI-for-good.
Artificial Intelligence: The Good, Bad and Ugly
Read it here
Sep 2018: The growth of technologies like AI, IoT, blockchain, etc. promises to solve the most pressing social and economic challenges of our time. However, technology-based decision-making also raises important questions on how the right to development will be realized in this new digital paradigm. In this article, Anita Gurumurthy and Deepti Bharthur focus on the right to development, and governance in the aforementioned context.
Artificial Intelligence and the Threat to Humanity
Read it here
Jun 2017: In this piece, Prabir Purkayastha outlines the dangers of discrimination against vulnerable and marginalized communities that can arise from automated algorithmic decision making.
Think Pieces
Intelligent but Gendered: Lessons from Welfare Automation in the Global South
Read the paper here
Feb 2022: This think piece was written by Shehla Rashid as part of our ‘Re-wiring India's Digitalising Economy for Women's Rights and Well-being’ project, supported by the European Union and FES.
While AI holds the promise of improving human lives in its emphasis on ‘augmenting’ human capabilities, this does not seem to be the priority of welfare automation systems which are deployed by private entities at the behest of governments with an overt emphasis on cost-saving. Digitisation is a requirement today, but automation is a Big Data-enabled affordance, implying that algorithms need data more than welfare needs algorithms. This explains the current push for ‘smart’ governance across the Global South which offers huge real-life datasets and often, a regulatory vacuum. This paper highlights the risks of diversion of resources from welfare toward digitisation and automation; of private capture of public data; and of the use of public data and public infrastructure to build private capabilities without any improvement in welfare. It argues that while consent is an important issue, it is internal to the logic of datafication and is often vitiated in digital welfare initiatives.
Lessons From a Pandemic: Three Provocations for AI Governance
Read the essay here
Dec 2020: This essay was written by Amba Kak for the ‘A Digital New Deal as if People and Planet Matter’ compendium, published in collaboration with the Just Net Coalition.
What, if anything, can the global pandemic teach us about regulating AI? Through three provocations (AI as abstraction; AI as distraction; AI policy as infrastructure policy), this essay explores how the data-driven responses to – and the technology-related impacts of – the Covid-19 pandemic hold crucial insights for the emergent policy terrain around algorithmic accountability and the political economy of AI systems.
Imagining the AI We Want: Towards a New AI Constitutionalism
Read the essay here
Nov 2020: This essay was written by Jun-E Tan for the ‘A Digital New Deal as if People and Planet Matter’ compendium, published in collaboration with the Just Net Coalition.
A movement towards AI constitutionalism has begun, as stakeholders come together to articulate the values and principles that should inform the development, deployment, and use of AI. This essay outlines the current state of AI constitutionalism and argues that existing discourses and initiatives center on non-legally binding AI ethics that are overly narrow and technical in their substance, and overlook systemic and structural concerns. This essay suggests three principles for an AI constitutionalism rooted in societal and local contexts: viewing AI as a means instead of an end, with an emphasis on clarifying the objectives and analyzing the feasibility of the technology in providing solutions; emphasizing relationality in AI ethics, moving away from an individualistic and rationalistic paradigm; and envisioning an AI governance that goes beyond self-regulation by the industry, and is instead supported by checks and balances, institutional frameworks, and regulatory environments arrived at through participatory processes.