The UK Humanitarian Innovation Hub (UKHIH), Elrha, and Humanitarian AI Today bring panelists together to critically examine the colonial approach in the rollout of AI applications, including the extraction of data from vulnerable groups without adequate representation or input.

Shaza Alrihawi, a Research Assistant with the Leibniz Institute for Educational Trajectories; Shruti Viswanathan, an Independent Consultant specializing in Data Governance and Digital Inclusion; Olubayo Adekanmbi, CEO and Co-founder of EqualyzAI and CEO and Founder of Data Science Nigeria; and Helen McElhinney, Executive Director with the CDAC Networ, join Brent Phillips, Producer of the Humanitarian AI Today podcast to focus on discussing the rollout of AI applications, key challenges in engaging affected populations and communities on the topic of AI and how we can roll out AI technologies in humanitarian work in an ethical and impactful manner.

This episode is part of a six-part panel discussion series produced by Humanitarian AI Today in collaboration with the UK Humanitarian Innovation Hub (UKHIH) and Elrha, with funding from UK International Development from the UK government. More information about this episode, its focus and upcoming discussions can be found by subscribing to the UK Humanitarian Innovation Hub and Elrha's new AI newsletter: http://ukhih.org/newsletter.

In this episode, the UK Humanitarian Innovation Hub (UKHIH), Elrha, and Humanitarian AI Today bring panelists together to critically examine the colonial approach in the rollout of AI applications, including the extraction of data from vulnerable groups without adequate representation or input.

Shaza Alrihawi, Researcher, Human Rights Advocate, and Consultant specializing in working with refugees at the Leibniz Institute for Educational Trajectories; Shruti Viswanathan, an Independent Consultant, Data Governance and Digital Inclusion; Olubayo Adekanmbi, CEO and Co-founder of EqualyzAI and CEO and Founder of Data Science Nigeria; and Helen McElhinney, Executive Director with the CDAC Network, join Brent Phillips, Producer of the Humanitarian AI Today podcast, to discuss the rollout of AI applications, the extraction of data from vulnerable groups without adequate representation or input, key challenges in engaging affected populations and communities on the topic of AI and how we can roll out AI technologies in humanitarian work in an ethical and impactful manner.

This episode is part of a six-part panel discussion series produced by Humanitarian AI Today in collaboration with the UK Humanitarian Innovation Hub and Elrha, with funding from UK International Development from the UK Government. More information about this episode and details about the rest of the series can be found by subscribing to the UK Humanitarian Innovation Hub and Elrha's new AI newsletter: http://ukhih.org/newsletter.

The UK Humanitarian Innovation Hub (UKHIH), Elrha, and Humanitarian AI Today bring panelists together to discuss transparency and strategies for improving transparency and accountability in AI implementations.

Michael Hind, Distinguished Research Staff Member at IBM Research; Shadrock Roberts, Director of Global Data Protection & Privacy at Mercy Corps; Scott Turnbull, Chief Technology Officer at Data Friendly Space; Liam Nicoll, Signpost Product Lead at Signpost AI Lab; and Sarah Spencer, a consultant who regularly speaks on humanitarian operations and applications of artificial intelligence, contribute their insights on transparency and ways of improving transparency and accountability in AI implementations. Touching on the existing landscape of AI initiatives within the humanitarian sector, key players, and what transparency means broadly and in practice, their views connect the humanitarian and technology communities and provide valuable insight into why transparency is crucial for building trust in AI systems and engaging stakeholders in developing and leveraging uses of AI for good.

The panel discussion, guest hosted by Brent Phillips from Humanitarian AI Today, mixes input on AI systems, technical information disclosure, AI governance and regulation, and how humanitarian organizations are approaching developing, testing and deploying safe, responsible and trustworthy AI applications that are transparent and accountable to end users. Panelists each share their views on ways of improving transparency and offer ideas on directions to expand the transparency conversation. In closing, panelists provide a strong case for greater information sharing on AI use cases and greater inclusivity around transparency throughout the AI building and deployment process.

This episode is part of a six-part panel discussion series sponsored and produced by Humanitarian AI Today in collaboration with the UK Humanitarian Innovation Hub (UKHIH) and Elrha, with funding from UK International Development from the UK government.  

More information about this episode, its focus and upcoming discussions can be found by subscribing to the UK Humanitarian Innovation Hub and Elrha's new AI newsletter: http://ukhih.org/newsletter.

Sian White, Director of the UK Humanitarian Innovation Hub; Dan Amias, Senior Innovation Learning Advisor at Elrha; and Daniela Weber, Director of NetHope’s Center for the Digital Nonprofit, discuss the growing importance of AI in the humanitarian sector and introduce Elrha and UKHIH’s new AI newsletter.

Joining Brent Phillips of Humanitarian AI Today, they highlight recent AI initiatives by UKHIH, Elrha, and NetHope, emphasizing their collaborative role in advancing humanitarian efforts. They also share insights from their AI learning journeys, key takeaways, and ongoing challenges in harnessing AI for humanitarian impact.

Lindsey Moore, Founder and CEO of DevelopMetrics, discusses her team’s upcoming AI for Development Summit and provides an update on DevelopMetric’s current work helping humanitarian organizations develop and test AI applications. Lindsey and Humanitarian AI Today podcast producer, Brent Phillips, touch on advancements in AI and the state of humanitarian AI, the importance of humanitarian organizations and technology companies participating in technical working groups, the need for funding for critical humanitarian AI research and development and importantly the need for funding to bridge the digital divide and ensure diverse representation in AI models particularly for underrepresented communities, and touch on AI transparency, Signpost’s new AI Lab, UK Humanitarian Innovation Hub projects and other subjects.

Karin Maasel and Doug Smith from Data Friendly Space update listeners on GANNET, a collaborative, generative AI-powered tool that DFS developed in partnership with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to help humanitarian organizations access, extract, and visualize information to boost the timeliness, effectiveness, and accuracy of humanitarian responses and anticipatory action. Over three recording sessions, Karin (DFS CEO) and Doug (DFS Chief of Staff) answer a broad range of questions covering their team’s work and new tools, the evolving humanitarian AI landscape and AI-powered tools being developed by other humanitarian initiatives, trusted data sources and open data sharing frameworks, and the importance of domain specific AI model training, human-centered design and responsible AI development as well as the need for greater cross-sector collaboration.

Vanessa Parli, Director of Research Programs at Stanford's Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence (HAI), speaks with Allison Cohen, Senior Applied AI Project Manager at Mila. This episode was recorded for both the Humanitarian AI Today podcast and The World We Are Building podcast, which seek to broaden the conversation around artificial intelligence. Vanessa and Allison discuss how HAI reviews and selects AI research projects to support based on their technical soundness, potential impact, ethical considerations, and alignment with HAI's goals and values.

Vanessa emphasizes the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration, which fosters a holistic approach to AI development. She also discusses the role of ethics in AI development and the challenges of bridging the gap between cutting-edge research and real-world applications, highlighting the importance of considering the potential impact of AI on society. This interview was recorded to provide humanitarian organizations, grantmakers and others with insights into how leading AI institutes handle research project cultivation and evaluation.

In this episode of Humanitarian AI Today, Sarah Spencer, a consultant for the UK Humanitarian Innovation Hub, interviews Kate Behncken, Corporate VP and Global Head of Microsoft Philanthropies. Kate discusses how Microsoft Philanthropies is harnessing AI to drive digital inclusion and empower nonprofits and communities worldwide. She shares details on her team’s work with organizations like UNICEF, IOM, and the British Heart Foundation, highlighting how AI is being leveraged to address pressing global challenges. The conversation also explores the ethical challenges of AI, focusing on responsible AI development, balancing humanitarian principles with AI ethics, privacy, and security concerns, and emphasizing the importance of inclusivity in AI development to avoid marginalizing vulnerable communities. Tune in to learn how AI is shaping the future of humanitarian work and how Microsoft is driving social impact across the globe.

Rolf Kleef, former CTO and Senior IATI Consultant with Data4Development, shares his views on Signpost’s new AI Lab and on the integration of AI into humanitarian operations with Humanitarian AI Today’s podcast producer Brent Phillips. Rolf specializes in helping civil society initiatives with online collaboration, transparency, open data sharing, algorithms, and ethical AI. Brent and Rolf use the interview to discuss the International Aid Transparency Initiative and run through a list of questions for Humanitarian AI Today Live, the podcast’s new video channel. Rolf answers questions on the mapping of humanitarian AI initiatives, AI powered chatbots, how Signpost’s AI Lab aims to collaborate with humanitarian organizations, AI governance and how the humanitarian community should approach improving transparency and accountability around AI, AI learning goals, open data sharing in the AI age and other subjects of interest to staff from humanitarian organizations interested in humanitarian applications of artificial intelligence.

Payal Dalal, Executive Vice President of Global Programs at the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth (the Center), speaks with Aleks Berditchevskaia, Principal Researcher, Nesta Centre for Collective Intelligence Design, about the Center’s data science work and commitment to advancing sustainable economic growth.

Payal and Aleks look at real-life applications of data science and AI to address real-world challenges and drive social impact, discuss ways to ensure emergent technologies such as AI are inclusive and equitable, and examine how a participatory AI framework involving diverse voices and data in the development of AI tools can mitigate bias and maximize the positive potential of these tools to close existing inequities. They also discussed the Center’s Artificial Intelligence to Accelerate Inclusion Challenge, a global call for AI solutions to accelerate inclusion and economic empowerment. In partnership with data.org, the Challenge is accepting submissions through July 18, 2024. Link to the application: https://data.org/initiatives/challenges/artificial-intelligence-to-accelerate-inclusion-challenge/

Aleks Berditchevskaia is the Principal Researcher working at Nesta's Centre for Collective Intelligence Design which creates new ways for communities to use technology to harness their ideas and insights, act on the problems that matter and create the futures they want.

Their work on humanitarian AI is focused on collective crisis intelligence technologies. These are tools that combine localized collective intelligence from affected communities and frontline responders, and AI. Since 2021, they have pioneered participatory AI methodologies that bring affected communities and frontline responders into the designing, testing and oversight of AI systems. Their research is funded by a grant from the UK Humanitarian Innovation Hub (UKHIH).

Keep an eye out for a forthcoming Humanitarian AI Today episode that will dive deeper into Aleks' work on participatory AI and the responsible deployment of humanitarian AI technologies.