About the Project

Many AI products and applications used around the world are still produced by teams that are not very diverse. As a result, AI applications at best do not meet the needs of users and at worst harm marginalised groups. Moreover, the (digital) divide between South and North is widening because most of the data sets for machine learning come from the Global North.
 

Aims of the project

The project aims to expand the discourse on artificial intelligence to include relevant voices that are indispensable for the development of AI oriented towards the common good. It aims to question the status quo, provide competences for action and thus show new ways for a sustainable development of AI applications. In doing so, it focuses on the following specific goals:  
 
  • Decentralisation of the AI discourse: The project aims to empower coders from the Global South and to embed their interests in the development of AI applications and in the debates around AI (e.g. at conferences). Within the framework of the project, the coders learn how products can be better aligned with the cultural realities, needs and interests of the Global South.   
 
  • Raising awareness of inclusion issues: The participation of people with disabilities, people of color, queer people, structurally disadvantaged people, people from different social classes, and older people in the creation and use of AI applications is important to us, and their perspectives should be included.
 
  • International and interdisciplinary exchange: The participating developers enter into a dialog with each other and with various other professional groups. The goal is to create a global community that raises awareness of the need to integrate multiple perspectives into the creation of AI applications.
 
  • Prototype design: Diverse teams design ideas for AI applications. Two projects selected by a jury are developed into prototypes.
     

Contact

If you have any further questions about the project or the call for application, feel free to write to: ai2amplify@goethe.de 
Project lead: Alexandra Stang, Sabine Reddel

The project is funded by the German Federal Foreign Office.
  Federal Foreign Office