Al and Global Challenges: Ethical Development and Responsible Deployment

The emergence of AI within the Global South is a pressing issue that has yet to come with the consent or participation of the vast majority of the population. Proponents of AI technology have the stage and the resources to press forward with few restrictions. However, most people remain voiceless about developments that affect their lives and livelihoods. Recognising that a discussion at a high-level panel at a WSIS summit is many layers removed from the input and experiences of most people who stand to be affected by the implications of technologies in which they have no voice, the panel nevertheless seeks to promulgate consideration by those in positions of power and influence around these urgent thematic questions: To what extent is the pursuit of AI a correct or necessary approach to addressing SDGs in the Global South Who controls the pursuit of AI, and to what extent is that driven by altruism or the quest for power or profit To what extent is AI an imposition of the values and norms of the societies at the forefront of its development How can these technologies be steered toward the benefit of people without control over them, and who cannot opt-out? How can people be protected from extractive or coercive use of AI technologies? Are there opportunities for multistakeholders to steer the evolution of AI from below, or is it inherently determined by the people who control the levers? Source person (alphabetical order):  Alfredo M. Ronchi (EC MEDICI Framework, polimi.it )  Anuja Shukla (Jaipuria Institute of Management Noida, jaipuria.ac.in )  Donny B.U (ICT Watch - Indonesia, ictwatch.id )  Marlyn Tadros (Virtual Activism, virtualactivism.org )  Martin Benjamin (Kamusi Project International, kamusi.org )  Waley Wang (CCIT / CAST, english.cast.org.cn )