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We are so incredibly proud of our <A+> Alliance’s f<a+i>r Feminist AI Research Network’s third cohort of projects, which include papers and now a series of prototypes that emanate from applied research funded by the IDRC.
f<A+I>r’s aim is to support the skill and imagination of Global South/Majority World feminists in producing effective, innovative, interdisciplinary models that harness emerging technologies which correct for real life bias and barriers to women’s rights, representation and equality
Measuring Gender Based Violence in Latin America
Gender based violence takes on many forms: physical, psychological, economical among others. While the harms are known, the impact of GBV has not yet adequately been measured. The absence of this data in Latin America has led, in part, to the championing of open data initiatives in the judiciary. The aim is to understand GBV from a judicial perspective, as well as foster a more transparent, innovative and accountable judiciary. AymurAI is the first pilot project, developed by Data Género in Argentina initially as a paper for the f<a+i>r network: “Feminisms in Artificial Intelligence: Automation Tools Towards A Feminist Judiciary Reform in Argentina and Mexico”, through to a successful “Prototype for an open and gender-sensitive justice in Latin America – AymurAI”. When gathered this data could be used in machine learning to identify the patterns of violence that might ultimately lead to feminicide – and then to policy and potential remedies to hinder the violence and death.
AI-(Em)powered Mobility of Women– Socio-cultural, Psychological, Personal, and Spatial Factors to Urban Transit Safety: Informing AI-Driven Filipino Women Safety Apps
Manila has one of the most dangerous transport systems in the world for women due to harrassment, and sexual assault. AI can be used to mitigate and supplement the efforts to make transit safer for women – providing an avenue to contact authorities, get in touch with their emergency contacts and be alerted about unsafe areas or modes of transportation.
This prototype was developed from the paper on “AI (em)powered Mobility” which focused on transport systems in Metro Manila, which have been hailed as dangerous and unsafe for women. To address this, some machine learning applications powered by Artificial Intelligence (AI) have been created and developed to ensure women’s safety. These safety apps, however, do not tackle the underlying issue of perpetrators’ violence against women. Rather than empowering women to take full control of their mobility, these older apps normalize violence and reinforce victim-blaming mentalities. To empower Filipino women, and to make sure that these apps are what women need and want, frameworks for future models of AI-driven safety apps should be rethought. SAFEHER in its prototype phase is doing just that.
Digital Gendered Violence in Chile: Development of a system for reporting, and response-orientation based on a feminist chatbot prototype
This prototype is a reporting and guidance information system for technology-facilitated gender violence (tfGBV) situations in Chile. It is based on a conversational agent (‘chatbot’ type) using feminist principles that consider ethical issues and put the needs and context of women who are exercising the right to freedom of expression and opinion on social networking platforms – particularly women with a public voice – activists, academics, women involved in politics, among others who live this type of situations daily – at the center of the prototype.”SOF+IA” was named after a public consultation in social media. SOF+IA means “Sistema de Oída Feminista” in Spanish. In English this could be translated as ‘Feminist Hearing System’.
Gender perspectives in AI crowd work
How can AI Crowd work become more feminist and fair?
In order to function, algorithms require millions of labeled training data to learn, recognize and categorize information. This labeling is often done by crowd workers who are neglected in system designs and whose well being is seldom considered. Latin American and Caribbean workers have been identified as significant crowd work contributors depending on crowd work as a steady source of income. However most studies on crowd work center around Western women and fail to take into account the personal and professional advancement of Latin American women.
To facilitate communication between these women crowd workers and help them identify relevant conversations, an intelligent a conversational agent was developed to emulate the personality of Latin American heroines and assist users in searching for specific advice, articulating their interests, and navigating the platform. Furthermore, the conversational agent will recommend other crowd working women who might be valuable connections based on shared interests, expertise, and experiences.
A tool to overcome technical barriers for bias assessment in Human Language Technologies
There are currently many tools and techniques to detect and mitigate biases in word embeddings, but they present many barriers for the engagement of people without technical skills. Most of the experts in bias, either social scientists or people with deep knowledge of the context where bias is harmful, do not have such technical skills, and they cannot engage in the processes of bias detection because of the technical barriers.
Via Libre, a non-profit civil organization established in Córdoba, Argentina, alongside the National University of Cordoba and the Faculty of Mathematics, Astronomy, Physics and Computing developed this tool that is specially aimed to lower technical barriers and to provide the exploration power to address requirements of experts, scientists (and people in general!) who are interested and willing to audit these technologies.
Towards a feminist framework for AI development: From Principles to Practice
This is a practical approach, with a feminist perspective located in Latin America, focused on the development of Artificial Intelligence (AI). It questions if it is possible to develop AI that does not reproduce logics of oppression. To answer, they focus on the power relations immersed in the field of AI and make an interpretative analysis of the day-to-day experiences of seven women working in some field of AI or data science in the region, in dialogue with different statements of feminist principles and guidelines for the development and deployment of digital technologies. The prototype turns the paper into a living document and new methodology. Workshops will explore deepening of the basic guide of questions from the initial paper, and practices for development with projects actively in development.
To read a one-pager about the project:
https://cloud.piratea.me/s/Rs9Hk9AkXTjLDky
To read the full paper:
https://www.derechosdigitales.org/wp-content/uploads/Fair_Doc_Eng.pdf
To read the full paper (Spanish version):
https://www.derechosdigitales.org/wp-content/uploads/Fair_Doc_Esp.pdf
To watch a short explainer: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/5pMd6ys22yU
This human-centered approach to intelligent tutoring systems focuses on needs + preferences of students + teachers in Upper Egypt’s one room community schools populated predominantly by girls. By tailoring the system to the specific environment of under-resourced schools, there is potential to reduce dropout rates and improve learning outcomes for students.
Key considerations include system alignment with the localized context; utilizing GenAI for content creation in different languages; emphasizing the importance of human oversight. The proposed AI-based tutoring system is positioned as an assistant, enhancing teachers’ capabilities rather than replacing teacher-student interaction., acknowledging the irreplaceable role of human teachers in providing motivation, guidance, and dialogue, harnessing the potential of AI for education while ensuring a human-centered approach.
Water Governance project conducted in collaboration with the Yaqui community of Vícam unveiled the challenges inherent in water management in Mexico. The methodology and amassed image, audio, satellite and analyses can now serve as a foundational resource for devising strategies and policies that advocate for sustainable water management while upholding the traditions and values of indigenous communities.
Point of View launched TechSakhi, an informational helpline service on digital safety and security, to address the gendered experiences of marginalized women, girls, and queer individuals in grassroots communities across India. The helpline, operational since February 2022, provides information, step-by-step guidance, referrals, and support in Hindi and Bangla languages. Callers connect with one of seven available responders through a cloud-based telephony system, ensuring privacy. The system includes an automatic ticketing system for efficiency and a knowledge database for standardization. The system utilizes AI powered technologies to facilitate intelligent triage of the cases including assisting with image and sound processing as well as AI powered searches.
A study of the regulations issued in Latin America related to public procurement and the gender approach. Using focus groups with women leaders from economy enterprises and microenterprises to identify barriers to participation in public procurement processes, and potential use of technological tools and artificial intelligence applications. The paper recommends a participatory approach to identifying barriers to entry and addressing gaps in data to develop artificial intelligence systems that ultimately address unequal participation in public procurement processes.
This paper focused on the use of technology to enhance capabilities of grassroots paralegals to deliver concrete, relevant, and persuasive information to parents and young people about the risks of child marriage. Information is intended to be used in advocacy efforts and to support policy-makers in establishing evidence-based and gender-responsive policies. A critical challenge in addressing child marriage in Indonesia is the scarcity of data, especially considering that a significant number of marriages occur outside the official state mechanism. The absence of published, disaggregated, and gender-responsive data contributes to a lack of targeted interventions by policy-makers and advocates. The envisioned prototype offers a gender-responsive and comprehensive data collection method, facilitating the reproduction and visualization of this data for stakeholders, including PEKKA Paralegals and policy-makers.
Feminist NLP: An Annotated Corpus to Evaluate Sex Differences in Work Related Diseases in Chile | Catholic University of Chile/Chile
Evidence from the US and Europe has highlighted significant differences in work accidents and occupational disease rates between women and men. However, such gender-disaggregated data is lacking for countries in the global south. In collaboration with the Chilean Safety Association (ACHS), which extends occupational health services to half the contract employees in the country, this paper focuses on two entities: the agent causing the accident (e.g., a walking surface or stairs) and the mechanism (e.g., a fall or a blow).