AI FOR PEACE NEWSLETTER Your monthly dose of news and the latest developments in AI for Peace |
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MAY 2021 Spotlight on AI and Child Rights, UN and emerging technologies, tech and diplomacy, digital sovereignty, killer robots and more! |
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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 |
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BY AI FOR PEACE AI FOR PEACE Child Rights Advisor, Venera Urbaeva, joined the WSIS Forum 2021, on May 5, Knowledge Café - Measurementality: Children’s Data and Sustainability Today, a large number of social platforms used by children were not designed with children’s rights and well-being front of mind. As a result, they often fail to take account of the vulnerabilities and unique capacities that children have. Children must be able to explore, learn, and develop in trustworthy environments that enable them to fulfill their curiosities at an age‐appropriate level and within the context of their familial societies. All participating in this Knowledge Café discussed issues like data privacy for children, data agency for all, and how metrics like the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and other human rights-oriented metrics are being utilized in the design of AI systems and will start to frame tangible approaches and solutions for ensuring the well-being of children in the digital and AI age. John C. Havens (moderator), Executive Director of the IEEE Global Initiative on Ethics of AI Systems, Sandy Pentland, Professor at MIT, and Venera Urbaeva, Child Rights Adviser at AI for Peace, set the stage for the discussions on how can we respect, protect, and promote children’s data rights, how frameworks for developing age-appropriate digital services where users are children can be implemented, and what are the measures of success for a positive and sustainable future for children. Listen to the recording here. Read the latest blog authored by Venera on "Child Development and Protection in the Digital Age". AI FOR PEACE Advisor, Yared Hurisa published a blog on “Analysis of PM Abiy Ahmed’s Tweets and Public Response” “Analyzing a politician's Twitter account could provide insights regarding the political discourse of the leader and the overall acceptance of his/her ideas by the larger audience. Consequently, I will try to address this question for Ethiopia’s PM, Abiy Ahmed Ali. We do this, by looking into which types of tweet terms dominate his tweet as well as the sentiment of the tweets. Moreover, we do apply the same type of analysis for the responses of 18 recent tweets to gauge the overall response of the PM’s audiences.” Read more here. |
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THIS MONTH’S BEST READS Are AI-Powered Killer Robots Inevitable? Wired, May 2020 Autonomous weapons present some unique challenges to the regulation. They can't be observed and quantified in quite the same way as, say, a 1.5-megaton nuclear warhead. Just what constitutes autonomy, and how much of it should be allowed? How do you distinguish an adversary's remotely piloted drone from one equipped with Terminator software? Unless security analysts can find satisfactory answers to these questions and China, Russia, and the US can decide on mutually agreeable limits, the march of automation will continue. And whichever way the major powers lead, the rest of the world will inevitably follow. The age of killer robots may have already begun, May 29, 2021, Axios A drone that can select and engage targets on its own attacked soldiers during a civil conflict in Libya. Why it matters: If confirmed, it would likely represent the first-known case of a machine-learning-based autonomous weapon being used to kill, potentially heralding a dangerous new era in warfare…Humanitarian organizations and many AI experts have called for a global ban on lethal autonomous weapons, but a number of countries — including the U.S. — have stood in the way. The UN Security Council Tackles Emerging Technologies, Council on Foreign Relations, 28 May 2021 In the midst of frenzied diplomacy around spiraling conflict in the Middle East and other crises around the world, the UN Security Council met virtually last week to discuss the growing role of emerging technologies in matters of peace and war. Though it has met previously to discuss cyber threats, this was the first time diplomats convened, under China’s Security Council presidency, to discuss how the rapid advancement of emerging technologies like artificial intelligence, biotech, and additive manufacturing, along with digital technologies, are changing the landscape of peace and conflict. Nations Need Ambassadors to Big Tech, Wired, May 2021 Governments see that companies have country-like powers, but they can’t figure out how to deal with their un-country-like structures. Diplomats could help. We live in two worlds: We’re citizens of countries but also visitors of “net states,” massive tech companies that wield global powers. Despite being both digital and physical creatures, we do a pretty good job sorting out how to navigate the two spaces. We follow laws according to where we park our physical selves, and we follow net state rules according to which sites and apps we log on to. Mob Violence Against Palestinians in Israel Is Fueled by Groups on WhatsApp, The New York Times, 19 May 2021 Israeli extremists have formed more than 100 new groups on the Facebook-owned encrypted messaging app in recent days to target attacks. Last Wednesday, a message appeared in a new WhatsApp channel called “Death to the Arabs.” The message urged Israelis to join a mass street brawl against Palestinian citizens of Israel. Within hours, dozens of other new WhatsApp groups popped up with variations of the same name and message. The groups soon organized a 6 p.m. start time for a clash in Bat Yam, a town on Israel’s coast. “Together we organize and together we act,” read a message in one of the WhatsApp groups. “Tell your friends to join the group, because here we know how to defend Jewish honor.” Democracy’s Digital Defenses, WSJ, 7 May 2021 New tools, many developed by the private sector, have the potential to thwart surveillance and disinformation by authoritarian governments… Technologies aimed at surveilling populations, suppressing dissent and spreading propaganda have long been used by authoritarian governments. But in recent years, democracies are discovering they can fight fire with fire, using their own digital tools to defend freedom and undermine autocracy. New tools, many of them developed by the commercial sector as privacy safeguards, are increasingly being repurposed as democracy’s digital defenses. ‘It’s about doing the right thing’ – A tech diplomat on democracy and what motivates him, Microsoft, 7 May 2021 AccountGuard is part of the Microsoft Defending Democracy Program that works with governments, political campaigns, academics and journalists around the world to protect the democratic process from hacking, increase political advertising transparency online, explore technological solutions to preserve and protect electoral processes, and defend against disinformation. We spoke to Jaiman about AccountGuard, the threats facing democracy and what drives him in his search for solutions. Digital Sovereignty in an Era of Global Surveillance, Disinformation, and Info-demics, Geopolitical Monitor, 13 May 2021 According to modest estimates, by 2020 the sheer growth in the volume of data is expected to reach more than 16 zettabytes, that is, 16 trillion GB. Less conservative estimates put the data production per annum at 90 zettabytes. To put it in context, that’s more data produced in one year “than all data produced since the advent of computers.” By 2025 data growth will reach 175 zettabytes. Concerns over the management of that growth and related apprehensions over the velocity, variety, veracity, and value of data are growing in tandem. Private and public sectors of the economy are increasingly engaged not only in the proliferation of information but also in its effective and responsible management, analysis, and knowledge extraction; elements essential in giving them a competitive advantage in a densely interconnected and highly networked global economy. Amnesty International calls for Google to halt cloud business in Saudi Arabia, 26 May 2021, The Verge Amnesty International is teaming up with 38 other human rights groups and individuals to call for a halt to Google’s plans to set up an enterprise cloud business in Saudi Arabia because of concerns over the country’s human rights track record. The joint statement — signed by the Electronic Frontier Foundation and Media Matters for Democracy, among others — calls for Google to end its plans in Saudi Arabia until the company conducts a public human rights assessment and makes it clear what kinds of government requests for data it won’t honor. Even more important, the letter writers state, is conducting that investigation in the open, actually consulting with the people Google could inadvertently help Saudi Arabia to hurt, and speaking to groups in the country who can better understand the issues there. |
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THIS MONTH’S REPORTS AND PUBLICATIONS Digital Technologies, Peacebuilding and Civil Society, by Julia-Silvana Hofstetter, May 2021 The wide availability of digital technologies is increasingly impacting the work of peacebuilders, altering both peacebuilding practices and conflict dynamics. The malicious use of technology – from the weaponization of social media to digital authoritarianism and cyberattacks – poses new threats to peaceful societies and urges peacebuilders to consider new fields of action in cyberspace. However, digitalization has also brought major innovations to the work of peacebuilders, establishing a new field of practice, ‘digital peacebuilding’. Many of the innovative uses of peace technologies – for conflict prevention, transformation and reconciliation – have been driven by civil society organizations, who are at the forefront of addressing the rising threat of digital conflict drivers, too. This report provides an overview of the opportunities and challenges digital technologies create for peacebuilders, discusses how they alter the role of civil society, and proposes future directions for the digital peacebuilding agenda. The state of women in AI today, May 2021, Deloitte Enterprises across industries today face a common barrier to achieve their AI goals—talent. Lacking the necessary AI skills, many organizations are ramping up their AI hiring while looking to diversify their talent sources. Demand for AI only looks to continue to grow—a 2020 LinkedIn report found that Artificial Intelligence Specialist is the top emerging job in the United States, with hiring growth for the role increasing 74 percent annually over the past four years. From digital promise to frontline practice: New and emerging technologies in Humanitarian action, OCHA, 2021 New and emerging technologies can support this paradigm shift from reaction to anticipation by enabling earlier, faster and potentially more effective humanitarian action. Artificial intelligence can facilitate analysis and interpretation of vast and complex humanitarian datasets to improve projections and decision-making… Together these technologies can lead to better access to information, assistance and livelihoods, and facilitate stronger, more relevant needs analysis, a more prioritized and people-centered response, and more meaningful and systematic monitoring. |
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THIS MONTH’S WEBINARS AND CONFERENCES Conflict Early Warning/Early Action Practitioners Workshop, NYU CIC, 18-21 May 2021 The 2021 Practitioners Workshop on Conflict Early Warning/Early Action took place virtually on 18-20 May. This year’s workshop will bring more visibility to specific advancements in the conflict and violence early warning and early action (EWEA) fields, with the idea to share global lessons from different actors and offer specific skills-building opportunities. The nature of conflict is transforming across the world while many new technologies are developing exponentially. The Conflict Early Warning/Early Action (EWEA) community is transforming its work as well to tackle the challenge and seize the opportunity. Ethics in Action: Moving from Principles to Practice in Technology Ethics, May 2021 The rapid spread of artificial intelligence (AI) and related technologies in recent years has been accompanied by a proliferation of principles-based, ethical frameworks intended to guide their design, development, and deployment in practice. Despite the existence of hundreds of sets of principles, we have little evidence of their impact in practice. This panel on Ethics in Action: Moving from Principles to Practice in Technology Ethics explored efforts to translate principled frameworks into principled action. Featuring perspectives from practitioners in both the public and private sectors, as well as insights from leading academic researchers focused on operationalizing AI ethics, we will facilitate a cross-sectoral, interdisciplinary dialogue on moving from principles to practice. Deplatforming Trump: The Facebook Oversight Board Decision, The Aspen Institute, May 2021 On Wednesday, May 5, the independent Facebook Oversight Board announced its decision to uphold the suspension of President Donald Trump’s account, which was suspended following the January 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol. Join us for an on-the-record public discussion with Oversight Board members and other experts about the decision and its far-reaching implications. To submit questions during the broadcast, please send them to aspendigital@aspeninstitute.org and we will address as many as possible. While we encourage you to include your name and affiliation, please indicate in your email whether you would like the question to be anonymous or not. Technology and Innovation for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Summit, United Nations University, 17 May 2021 The United Nations University Institute in Macau will organize the Technology and Innovation for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Summit in celebration of the World Telecommunication and Information Society Day on May 17. As the only United Nations (UN) presence in Macau, UNU Macau aims to bring together government, academia, private sector, and NGOs to share their experiences in advancing the SDGs, examine the SDGs’ roles in Macau’s strategic development plan, and explore collaborative opportunities particularly in the areas of digital technologies for the SDGs. In doing so, we hope to raise awareness about the SDGs and celebrate successes as well as learn from the challenges in implementing the SDGs in Macau. The Summit will be organized around the five Ps of the SDGs: People, Prosperity, Peace, Partnership and Planet. |
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THIS MONTH’S PODCAST CHOICE Bart Selman on the Promises and Perils of Artificial Intelligence, 20 May 2021, Future of Life Institute Bart Selman, Professor of Computer Science at Cornell University, joins us to discuss a wide range of AI issues, from autonomous weapons and AI consciousness to international governance and the possibilities of superintelligence. Topics discussed in this episode include: Negative and positive outcomes from AI in the short, medium, and long-terms; The perils and promises of AGI and superintelligence; AI alignment and AI existential risk; Lethal autonomous weapons; AI governance and racing to powerful AI systems; AI consciousness and more. |
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EVENT ANNOUNCEMENTS Don’t miss RightsCon 2021 – June 7-11, 2021 Every year, we bring together business leaders, human rights defenders, government representatives, technologists, and journalists from around the world to tackle the most pressing issues at the intersection of human rights and technology. The 10th Anniversary of RightsCon is happening from Monday, June 7 to Friday, June 11, 2021. Registered participants can now login to the official RightsCon platform. Announcing Build Peace 2021 - October 18-24, 2021 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. |
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BOOK RECOMMENDATION Atlas of AI: Power, Politics, and the Planetary Costs of Artificial Intelligence, by Kate Crawford, 2021 What happens when artificial intelligence saturates political life and depletes the planet? How is AI shaping our understanding of ourselves and our societies? In this book Kate Crawford reveals how this planetary network is fueling a shift toward undemocratic governance and increased racial, gender, and economic inequality. Drawing on more than a decade of research, award-winning science, and technology, Crawford reveals how AI is a technology of extraction: from the energy and minerals needed to build and sustain its infrastructure, to the exploited workers behind “automated” services, to the data AI collects from us. |
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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! |
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