JUNE 2021

Spotlight on refugees and immigrants, freedom of expression, lethal autonomous weapons, decolonizing the Internet, AI Ethics, and more!  

For more resources on Technology, Bias, and Racial Justice look at our

Special Edition Newsletter

curated by 

Amanda Luz, Jeremy Pineda, Loren Crone, Stephanie Hilton

BY AI FOR PEACE

AI FOR PEACE Founder, Branka Panic, at the Stockholm Forum on Peace and Development, 2021

The session 'Friend or foe? Emerging technologies and conflict early warning in the age of compound risk' was organized in partnership with the Center on International Cooperation NYU (CIC), at the 2021 Stockholm Forum on Peace and Development 'Promoting Peace in the Age of Compound Risk'. Learn about the opportunities and threats associated with emerging technologies and data-driven approaches for conflict early warning and action in the age of compound risk. In particular this session will ask what risks emanate from biased, incomplete or low-quality data? What other ethical challenges are linked to merging data-driven methodologies, peacebuilding and prevention?

“…Lack of protection of personal information and location of end-users, data providers, or collaborators, can lead not only to violation of their digital rights but to direct attack on their physical security and safety. This can be unintended consequence, but it can also be an intentional data weaponization, using sensitive data in conflict areas to intentionally target facilities or members of a specific vulnerable group…”, says Branka Panic. The entire recording is available here.

THIS MONTH’S BEST READS 

UN Shared Rohingya Data Without Informed Consent, HRW, 15 June 2021

The United Nations refugee agency improperly collected and shared personal information from ethnic Rohingya refugees with Bangladesh, which shared it with Myanmar to verify people for possible repatriation, Human Rights Watch said today. The agency did not conduct a full data impact assessment, as its policies require, and in some cases failed to obtain refugees’ informed consent to share their data with Myanmar, the country they had fled.

AI filters and human rights: Council of Europe wants to better protect freedom of expression, MRT, June 12, 2021

Without suitable regulatory steps, filters based on artificial intelligence (AI) and news offers based on microtargeting threaten the freedom of expression and information of citizens in the 47 member states of the Council of Europe. The organization’s Council of Ministers at its conference in Nicosia, Cyprus on Friday passed resolutions on AI filters and protecting freedom of expression in the face of media change, increasing attacks on journalists and the pandemic situation, often used as a pretext for restrictions on reporting.

Lethal Autonomous Weapons Exist; They Must Be Banned, IEEE, June 16, 2021

A chilling future that some had said might not arrive for many years to come is, in fact, already here. According to a recent UN report, a drone airstrike in Libya from the spring of 2020—made against Libyan National Army forces by Turkish-made STM Kargu-2 drones on behalf of Libya’s Government of National Accord—was conducted by weapons systems with no known humans “in the loop.” In so many words, the red line of autonomous targeting of humans has now been crossed.

How global tech companies prop up Myanmar’s digital dictatorship, TRT World, June 2021

The military's brutal crackdown post-coup has been aided by an arsenal of surveillance and data extraction tools sourced from Western firms. Now, according to leaked budgetary records from Myanmar’s Ministry of Home Affairs (MOHA) and Ministry of Transport and Communications (MOTC), the Tatmadaw’s efforts to suppress its own citizens has been aided by technology sold to it by Western companies.

Decolonising the internet: How AI shapes our world, Media Monitoring Africa, 15 June

The access to the internet has incredible potential to deepen democracy and equality, and ensure diverse views and voices can be heard. The reality however is vastly different with a digital divide not just in South Africa but between the North and South. We see the global giants based in North America, with the majority of investments, technology development, programming, machine learning and power residing in the global North. These power dynamics have dramatic implications for every aspect of the Internet, from language to cultural dominance to northern realities informing biases built into the programmes and how they work. Given the digital divide, racial inequalities and lack of representation it is imperative to start interrogating the ‘behind the scenes’ of our online realities.

What’s missing in the way Tech Ethics is taught currently? MAIEI, 23 June 2021

What’s missing in the way Tech Ethics is taught currently? Two experts in this field, Heather von Stackelberg and Mathew Mytka, shared their ideas and experiences on these and other vital issues. See their full bios at the end of the article.

A state department for the digital age, War on the Rocks, 21 June 2021

Emerging technologies are redefining what it means to be prosperous, secure, and powerful. Every country wants to acquire them and use them to expand or project power and influence, causing friction among nations and provoking anxiety, jealousy, fear, and rage. To lead at this new frontier is to gain a geostrategic advantage for the next century. China is devoting massive resources to that race. Emerging technologies are effectively driving two big shifts: the technological revolution and the rise of China as a strategic competitor to the United States.

Counting the cost in Gaza, Reuters Graphics, 9 June 2021

In the first comprehensive tally of the destruction caused by the 11-day conflict which ended in a ceasefire May 21, Reuters analysis of data from the United Nations Operational Satellite Applications Programme (UNOSAT) reveals that the impact could be even greater, with 11% of Gaza’s health facilities within 100 metres of damaged and destroyed buildings.

THIS MONTH’S REPORTS AND PUBLICATIONS

Social media in peace mediation: a practical framework, Swisspeace and UN DPPA, 9 June 2021

DPPA Mediation Support Unit and swisspeace teamed up for an evidence-based conversation about the impact of social media on peace mediation, and in 2020 organized a series of workshops and focus group meetings with mediation practitioners, researchers, technology experts and representatives from social media companies. Participants in these consultations prioritized four issues: leveraging social media for gender-sensitive analysis of a conflict-affected context; using social media for communication purposes; understanding and responding to conflict parties’ use of social media; and understanding and addressing social media as a source of mis- and disinformation, all within the context of mediation processes. Download the report here.

Autonomous Weapon Systems and International Humanitarian Law: Identifying Limits and the Required Type and Degree of Human–Machine Interaction, June 2021

This report aims to help states form and express their views on the legal provisions that already do, or should, govern the development and use of AWS, particularly with respect to the required type and degree of human–machine interaction. It maps (a) what limits IHL already places on the development and use of AWS; (b) what IHL demands from users of AWS to perform and satisfy IHL obligations, whether the obligations are of a state, an individual or both; and (c) threshold questions concerning the type and degree of human–machine interaction required for IHL compliance.

ICYMI

Mass Incarceration and The Future: An Urgent Need to Address the Human Rights Implications of Criminal Background Checks and the Future of Artificial Intelligence, CARR Center for Human Rights Policy

Once a person comes in contact with the U.S. criminal justice system, they begin to develop an arrest and/or conviction record. This record includes data aggregated from various databases mostly, if not exclusively, administered by affiliated government agencies. As the prison population grew, the number of background check companies rose as well. The industry has grown and continues to do so with very little motivation to wrestle with morality, data integrity standards, or the role of individual rights. This paper address the urgent need to look towards a future where background screening decisions and artificial intelligence collide. Read full paper here.

THIS MONTH’S WEBINARS AND CONFERENCES

Social Media Impacts on Conflict and Democracy, Alliance for Peacebuilding, June 15, 2021

Join AfP's Digital Peacebuilding Community of Practice for an exciting book launch and panel discussion by the Toda Peace Institute on Social Media Impacts on Conflict and Democracy. Hear from the book's contributors who illustrate the dramatic impact social media technology is having on social and political dynamics around the world as they share vivid examples and case studies from Brazil, Colombia, Egypt, Jordan, Kenya, and Venezuela.

GEO ETHICS Webinar: No Direction Home: Labor Rights and Geospatial Data
Date and Time: Tue, June 1, 2021 11:00 am - 1:30 pm US. Eastern Time

This webinar will focus on issues surrounding the use of geospatial data and labor rights, domestically and internationally. It will examine the use of geospatial technologies and data by employers, and their impact on the human rights of workers under international and domestic laws and protocols.

Data for Peace Dialogue: Future of Mediation and Peacemaking with Emerging Technologies, NYU CIC, June 29, 2021

In the world of emerging technologies, efforts to end conflict such as mediation and peacemaking are increasingly impacted by digital tools. Traditionally the “low tech” field of mediation, where emotional intelligence, communication, and interpersonal skills had the highest value, is now exploring the potential benefits of emerging technologies. While the growing impact and importance of emerging technologies on mediation and peace processes is not new, the current pandemic emphasizes the urgent need, while also revealing many additional challenges and opportunities that come with the new landscape. Speakers at the June 2021 Data for Peace Dialogue discussed the latest and potential future applications of emerging technologies and tools to advance the mediation and peacemaking and discuss challenges and risks they are bringing.

THIS MONTH’S PODCAST CHOICE 

RADICAL IMAGINATION - Ethics of AI: Angela Glover Blackwell in conversation with Rediet Abebe and Terrence Wilkerson, June 25, 2021

Artificial intelligence and algorithms are increasingly used to make life-changing decisions in policing, lending, hiring, renting, health care, and many other realms. The technology has come under fire for encoding and intensifying racial bias. But what if AI could be transformed into a tool for fighting discrimination and inequality? Host Angela Glover Blackwell discusses this intriguing possibility with Black in AI co-founder, activist, and computer scientist Rediet Abebe. We also hear the story of Terrence Wilkerson, who was unjustly trapped in the criminal legal system by questionable AI technology.

DATA SCIENCE MIXER - Putting AI ethics into practice | Abhishek Gupta

How do you move from discussing AI ethics in the abstract to putting them into practice? Abhishek Gupta, founder of the Montreal AI Ethics Institute and a machine learning engineer at Microsoft, shares tools and best practices and encourages data scientists to share and learn from failures.

ICYMI

Immigrants' Rights, Tech, and the Prison Industrial Complex, CARR Center for Human Rights Policy, April 2020

Jonathan Ryan, CEO and President of RAICES, discusses the intersection of immigrants' rights, the weaponization of technology, and the private prison system. In our latest episode of Justice Matters, Jonathan Ryan joins our host, Sushma Raman, to discuss how we might reinstate American values at the U.S. border. 

EVENT ANNOUNCEMENTS 

AI for Good - Privacy, Ethics & AI, Wed, Jul 7, 2021 3:30 PM BST (9:30 AM CDT)

Deloitte’s Women for Ethical AI Network is back with the second webinar of the AI for Good series – AI for Good: Privacy, Ethics & AI. Privacy and ethics are two crucial themes in the world of AI. AI solutions are powered by data, including personal and sensitive data, warranting careful discussions into the way it is collected, analysed and processed. It is known that there are underlying ethical concerns related to AI including algorithmic biases, unintended and unfair consequences or intrusive inferences. On top of these, emerging issues such as the ability to distinguish between sensitive and normal data, or the ability to recognize and sanitize inferential data, are coming to the fore as data protection laws are rolled out globally.

Build Peace 2021 - October 18-24, 2021; Apply to contribute by July 31!

What’s going on at Build Peace 2021? Find out about core themes and all the conference sessions & speakers. The conference will take place on October 18 – 24, 2021 on a virtual platform. Some conference sessions will also take place in person at Philippi Village in Cape Town, South Africa, and livestreamed to the virtual conference. Sessions with in-person options are detailed in the conference program.

BOOK RECOMMENDATION

Social Media Impacts on Conflict and Democracy - The Techtonic Shift, Edited By Lisa Schirch, 2021

"Social media technology is having a dramatic impact on social and political dynamics around the world. The contributors to this book document and illustrate this "techtonic" shift on violent conflict and democratic processes. They present vivid examples and case studies from countries in Africa, South and Southeast Asia, Latin America as well as Northern Ireland. Each author maps an array of peacebuilding solutions to social media threats, including coordinated action by civil society, governments and tech companies to protect human minds, relationships and institutions. Solutions presented include inoculating society with a new digital literacy agenda, designing technology for positive social impacts, and regulating technology to prohibit the worst behaviours. A must-read both for political scientists and policymakers trying to understand the impact of social media, and media studies scholars looking for a global perspective."

Online Library 

On our website, AI for Peace, you can find even more awesome content, podcasts, articles, white papers and book suggestions that can help you navigate through AI and peace fields. Check our online library!