Webinar: Pioneering new approaches to AI through participation
Date: 31 March 2025
Time: 13:00 – 15:00 Central African Time
Register to attend:https://mozilla.zoom.us/meeting/register/8JNi4BGPRn6ZRvWq_RXZDA
Submit contribution / more information: https://pairs25.notion.site/PAIRSx-Africa-Pioneering-new-approaches-to-AI-through-Participation-1b4260e24e1a80ffa143e3f5533d7907
Ahead of the Global AI Summit on Africa taking place in Kigali, we invite you to participate in a webinar on 31 March 2025. The aim of the webinar is to advance the practice of participatory AI in Africa by convening researchers and practitioners of participatory methods in AI. During the webinar we aim to define the continent’s participatory needs for AI and establish a community of Africans who can formulate a shared vision for policy action.
🎤We will have a few presentations to kick off the conversation!
AI governance for who? A critique and situating of the African voice in the continental AI envisioning and planning process.
Presenter: Bobina Zulfa, Pollicy
Participation is critical for equitable decision making which caters to as many voices and materialities. For African countries, who are in a sense marginal in the global AI governance conversation, whether by their geopolitical standing or by virtue of only recently starting to adopt AI and by extension embedding AI governance conversations in their contexts, it becomes even more important to centre the perspectives of the people. Many of whom are already structurally marginalised in different aspects and for whom AI is more likely to disproportionately negatively impact their lives.
This presentation thus takes on a review of the current state of participatory AI governance in Africa as seen through the conceptual and structural development of the Continental AI Strategy. Specifically, this review takes on a critique of the central vision upheld by the Strategy, “harnessing AI for Africa’s development and prosperity” which basically implies imaginaries of a more developed Africa whose growth is largely spurred by automation and smart systems.
More presenters will be announced on the website!!
🧰There is also room to contribute…
We also welcome submissions until 26 March 2025 from people or organisations who are interested in sharing their research, projects or works-in-progress related to participatory processes and AI during a workshop breakout session.
Submissions should explore the following themes:
- Participatory AI development
- Participatory AI governance
- Participation, power and resistance
If you have any questions, contact: pairs@connectedbydata.org
See you there.
