Our Mandate
Members of this network recognize that AI technologies are never neutral; rather, they are embedded within socio-technical frameworks and thereby bound by the limitations of their creators and the contexts within which they are deployed.
As such, we are committed to bringing the tangible effects of AI into focus so that we can better understand the underlying implications and possibilities for resistance and change. To achieve this, we commit to creating resources that spread awareness of current issues and themes that emerge from our meetings.
We will highlight alternative narratives and (re)imagined futures of AI deployment to stimulate critical thinking about the possibilities and limitations of AI.
We invite perspectives beyond the technical and entrepreneurial to emphasize the differential impacts AI has on lived experiences. One way we do this is by inverting the power structure, centering community-led forms of knowledge and experience to lead and shape our conversations. Ultimately, our goal is to create a more equitable and just society that leverages AI for the betterment of all.
Terms of Engagement
In carrying out their work, scholars who belong to this network commit to:
- Valuing communities and individuals who are interested in and differentially affected by the design and implementation of artificial intelligences.
- Being transparent about methods of inquiry, budget, funding sources, timelines, expectations, and benefits (e.g., to researcher, research assistants, community).
- Creating an enduring space for mutual learning and capacity building that allows us to share expertise and resources related to understanding and using artificial intelligence as tools of resistance, emancipation, and analysis.
- Empowering communities and publics to actively shape the futures of AI and technology too often defined by technological and economic determinism.
- Situating AI in the contexts it is created and deployed within, connecting it to those who train, develop, implement, and act upon it.
- Making visible the relationships between AI and policy makers, institutions, corporations, individuals, and governments, in order to denounce embedded inequities that disproportionately affect poor and racialized communities.
- Engaging critically with ideologies like tech positivism and calling social narratives and popular representations of AI, to ensure that the social impacts of AI do not ignore more pressing demands basic humans rights and dignities.
- Negotiating direct benefits to community (e.g., knowledge, economic, service, paid work) prior to beginning a project.
- Valuing different forms of knowledge and experience while recognizing differences in impact and capacities.
- Encouraging research and community work that matches community desire and hopes.
Members
Yannick Baumann
PhD Candidate, Department of Geography
Université de Montréal
Joëlle Gélinas
Étudiante au doctorat en communication
Université du Québec à Montréal
Nicholas Gertler
Masters in Media Studies
Department of Communication Studies, Concordia University
Erin Hassard
Help Desk and Communications
Women on Web
Thomas Linder, PhD
Coordinator, Open North
Fenwick McKelvey
Associate Professor, Department of Communication Studies, Concordia University
Co-Director, Concordia Applied AI Institute
Christian Medina
Manager of Global Programs, Open North
Alex Megelas
PhD Candidate, Department of Integrated Studies in Education
McGill University
Myriam Moore
Professeure Assistante
Université de St. Paul
Alessandra Renzi
Associate Professor, Department of Communication Studies
Concordia University
Lindsay Rodgers, PhD
Advisor, Knowledge Mobilization
Concordia Applied AI Institute
Andres Salas
PhD student, Interdisciplinary Humanities program
Concordia University
Sepideh Shahamati
PhD Candidate
Geography, Planning, and Environment, Concordia University
Mieko Tarrius
PhD Researcher
Geography and Urban Studies, Concordia University
Contact
To get in touch with the network, send us an email at contact@aicbar.ca