AI FOR PEACE NEWSLETTER

Your monthly dose of news and the latest developments in AI for Peace

MAY 2022

Spotlight on cyber peacekeeping, autonomous warfare, the geopolitics of technology and more

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THIS MONTH’S BEST READS 

How Democracies Can Beat Techno-Authoritarianism, The National Interest

The techno-authoritarian challenge to democracies is complex and multifaceted. It includes the rise of ubiquitous technical surveillance, the blocking of a citizenry’s access to unapproved sources of information, and the dissemination of disinformation and propaganda to domestic and international audiences. The techno-authoritarian challenge is also often described as a component of great power competition in which democracies like the United States and autocracies like China are promoting starkly different visions for the role of technology in society.

 

Social media AIs are a convenient scapegoat for the decline of democracy. But we should look deeper, May 1, The Star

Will all those algorithms, which feast on fear and loathing, keep polarizing our politics and undermining democracies? Those are the questions we grappled with at a conference on the risks — and realities — of AI at the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy. The first thing you learn about machine learning, the dominant form of AI, is not to let its daunting complexity scare the wits out of you. AI is not rocket science, nor is it reinventing political science. It’s a data tool that can be used and abused, depending on how humans — more precisely, politicians — handle its powers.

 

To make AI fair, here’s what we must learn to do, 4 May 2022, Nature

From New York City to California and the European Union, many artificial intelligence (AI) regulations are in the works. The intent is to promote equity, accountability and transparency, and to avoid tragedies similar to the Dutch childcare-benefits scandal. But these won’t be enough to make AI equitable. There must be practical know-how on how to build AI so that it does not exacerbate social inequality. In my view, that means setting out clear ways for social scientists, affected communities and developers to work together.

 

Cyber Blue Helmets – Can Cyber Peacekeepers Help Sustain Peace in Cyberspace? 2 May 2022, NYU CIC

In 2016, the UN launched the Digital Blue Helmets (DBH) program to serve as a “common platform for rapid information exchange and better coordination of protective and defensive measures against information technology security incidents for the United Nations, including agencies, funds and programs.” The DBH program is part of UN efforts to build capacity, strengthen coordination, and foster collaboration to enhance cybersecurity preparedness, resilience, and the response of the United Nations. No doubt these efforts are needed, especially in the context of recent increased attacks on UN missions and agencies.

 

Where anonymity on Twitter is a matter of life or death, 6 May 2022, The rest of World

“Anonymity provides a sort of basic protection for individuals who are engaging in online space in authoritarian or repressive, or even socially difficult, situations,” said David Kaye, a clinical professor of law at the University of California, Irvine, and the former U.N. special rapporteur on the right to freedom of opinion and expression. “Free speech includes anonymous speech. Do you plan to undermine anonymity and change the [rule of] anonymous accounts that has been a signature feature of Twitter?”

 

What does the future of autonomous warfare look like? Four critical questions, answered, 13 May 2022

As warfare is increasingly dictated by machines, critical questions around strategy, technology, and morality arise at every turn. But there’s one thing we know for sure: There’s no reversing the rise of autonomous systems. The upcoming NEXUS 22 symposium, hosted by Applied Intuition in collaboration with the Atlantic Council, will bring together senior leaders to discuss the complex issues at the intersection of national security, defense, and autonomous systems. Ahead of the gathering, experts from the Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security’s Forward Defense practice addressed the most important questions about these systems and how they will shape the future of warfare.

 

If Tech Fails to Design for the Most Vulnerable, It Fails Us All, 15 May 2022

The same steps could protect users in all these contexts. If the builders of these tools had designed their apps by focusing on safety in high-risk environments—for persons who are often seen as the more “extreme” or “edge” cases and therefore ignored—the weaponization that users fear would not be possible, or at the very least they would have tools to manage their risk.

 

The geopolitics of technology: How the EU can become a global player, 17 May 2022

As for the European Union, the Brussels institutions are trying to shape global standards of privacy and data protection, digital platforms, and AI according to European values  using the attractiveness and power of its internal market. The EU also promotes digital partnerships with like-minded countries and allies – and announced, in December 2021, the “Global Gateway” initiative as the EU version of China’s DSR.

 

Social media companies are facing pressure to start archiving war crimes evidence. How will that work? 24 May 2022

Long before politicians caught on, Alexa Koenig, the executive director of the Human Rights Center at UC Berkeley, was working on how social media can be used as evidence in international courts — and how companies can do a better job of preserving it. In the report Digital Lockers: Archiving Social Media Evidence of Atrocity Crimes, Koenig and her team outlined how social media platforms can transform from “accidental and unstable archives for human rights content” to vaults of evidence accessible to investigators and prosecutors. Going a step further, the team at the Human Rights Center created a framework for using digital open source information in international courts.

 

More consensus needed over digital technology for ‘people and the planet’ 23 May 2022

“We have a critical opportunity to build consensus on how digital technologies can be used for the good of people and the planet, while addressing their risks,” Rosemary DiCarlo, Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, told the Security Council.

“But collective action by Member States remains essential towards this goal”.

 

New technologies risk making warfare deadlier for civilians, 21 May 2022

Today’s wars are not waged solely through kinetic operations on the battlefield. They are fought across multiple domains that see sophisticated new technologies harnessed alongside more traditional munitions. The Ukraine conflict is just the latest example. The impact of new technologies on conflict, humanitarian action and international humanitarian law (IHL) is of growing importance to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC.) New technology is not only changing the means and methods of warfare, but also the ways in which humanitarian actors respond.

THIS MONTH’S WEBINARS AND CONFERENCES

Are AI Technologies Fueling Modern Colonialism? 5 May 2022

AI Colonialism investigates these harms across South Africa, Venezuela, Indonesia, and New Zealand, and also suggests how AI could be so much more—a way for the historically dispossessed to reassert their culture, their voice, and their right to determine their own future.

 

A Former South African Politician’s Effort to Combat Misinformation in Elections, 31 May 2022

Misinformation during elections is a serious concern for democratic systems around the world. This is particularly true in various African countries, cases of electoral violence have been linked to disruptions in the informational realm. Yet, the underinvestment by technology companies in initiatives to limit the existence and impact of disinformation in Africa remains a reality.

 

Local initiatives have attempted to mitigate this inequality. This week’s webinar will focus on the work of Former South African MP Phumzile Van Damme, who launched a project to tackle the spread of misinformation on social media platforms before and during the local government elections in November 2021. She will share on the methodology used, and results observed. The webinar will also discuss the challenges faced in ensuring that South African users and citizens have access to reliable information.

 

ICYMI

Point, Click, Peace: Pursuing Sustainable Peace Amid Technological Disruption, 26 January 2022, PeaceCon@10

Technology is evolving at a rapid rate, swiftly transforming much of the world’s day- to-day existence—and overwhelming economic, political, and social systems in the process. International security has grown amorphous and vastly more complex with the onset of global cyber threats and attacks. Advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) bring significant implications for both threats to and protectors of social cohesion. And policymakers, activists, and the private sector are fiercely deliberating over quickly shifting models of internet ownership and governance that best promote peace, rather than conflict and social instability. What are the steps forward for the peacebuilding community to not only stay informed and tuned into these technological disruptions, but also actively involve itself in them, in turn shaping technological advancement in the direction of sustainable and inclusive peace?

THIS MONTH’S PODCAST CHOICE 

Fixing Aid | The dangers of border technology for refugees, 19 May 2022,

Biometrics, drones, sensor towers, and robot dogs: In this episode of Fixing Aid, host Alae Ismail explores the growing use of border and surveillance technology and looks at the grave consequences and long-lasting impacts for refugees and migrants around the globe.

 

Humanitarian AI Today – Laura McGorman from Meta’s Data for Good Program, 11 May 2022

Laura McGorman, Director of Data for Good at Meta speaks with Andrew Schroeder and Ewan Oglethorpe about data sharing for good today and in the future in the Metaverse, the types of sophisticated datasets her team makes available to researchers, humanitarian actors and others, and how Meta is collaborating with the humanitarian community around Ukraine and around improving the use and impact of data for good. Andrew Schroeder is the VP of Research and Analysis at Direct Relief and Co-Director of CrisisReady and Ewan Oglethorpe is the Executive Director of Data Friendly Space (DFS) and co-creator of theDEEP.

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