Artificial Intelligence & Equality Initiative

From 2019 to 2024, the Artificial Intelligence & Equality Initiative (AIEI) was an innovative impact-oriented community of practice that sought to understand the innumerable ways in which AI impacts equality for better or worse. Through its convenings, publications, and analysis, AIEI worked to empower ethics in AI.

Building upon these efforts, Carnegie Council continues to examine critical issues at the intersection of emerging technology and international affairs.

You can access the latest Carnegie Council content on AI and emerging tech here.

The Artificial Intelligence & Equality Initiative sought to:

Build

Build the foundation for an inclusive dialogue—an Agora—to probe issues related to the benefits, risks, tradeoffs, and tensions that AI fosters.

Nurture

Nurture an interdisciplinary, intergenerational community of practice to rapidly address urgent challenges in the uses of AI and other novel technologies.

Establish

Establish a forum for those in positions where they must make considered choices and decisions about the development and deployment of AI applications.

Forge

Forge transparent, cross-disciplinary, and inclusive conversations and guided inquiries.

Empower

Empower ethics as a tool for making thoughtful decisions about embedding AI systems and applications in the fabric of daily life.

Wendell Wallach

Former Carnegie-Uehiro Fellow, Artificial Intelligence & Equality Initiative (AIEI); Yale Interdisciplinary Center for Bioethics

Anja Kaspersen

Former Carnegie Council Senior Fellow, Artificial Intelligence & Equality Initiative (AIEI); IEEE

How does AI impact equality, for better or worse?

Structural inequality is the result of a broad array of political, economic, social, and cultural factors. The socio-technical systems that are the result of introducing innovations into this mix have become increasingly destabilizing. The sheer ubiquity and speed by which AI-based systems are permeating our lives is disruptive of countless industries and institutions. Growing monopolies of proprietary data have and continue to rapidly empower digital elites and new digital alliances. And yet the understanding of exactly how social and technical systems interact and how to govern them globally, regionally, or locally lags far behind. To complicate matters, some applications of AI may actually reduce inequality or enhance equality in discreet ways. AIEI is working to unpack this difficult and highly transdisciplinary terrain to ensure that AI is developed and deployed in a just, responsible, and inclusive manner. Read more.

Why are we failing at the ethics of AI?

The last few years have seen a proliferation of initiatives on ethics and AI. Whether formal or informal, led by companies, governments, and international and non-profit organizations, these initiatives have developed a plethora of principles and guidance to support the responsible use of AI systems and algorithmic technologies. Despite these efforts, few have managed to make any real impact in modulating the effects of AI. Read more.

Latest Podcasts, Events, & Articles

APR 30, 2024 Podcast

Is AI Just an Artifact? with Joanna Bryson

In this episode, host Anja Kaspersen is joined by Hertie School's Joanna Bryson to discuss the intersection of computational, cognitive, and behavioral sciences, and AI.

A Dangerous Master book cover. CREDIT: Sentient Publications.

APR 18, 2024 Article

A Dangerous Master: Welcome to the World of Emerging Technologies

In this preface to the paperback edition of his book "A Dangerous Master," Wendell Wallach discusses breakthroughs and ethical issues in AI and emerging technologies.

MAR 22, 2024 Podcast

Two Core Issues in the Governance of AI, with Elizabeth Seger

In this "Artificial Intelligence & Equality" podcast, Carnegie-Uehiro Fellow Wendell Wallach and Demos' Elizabeth Seger discuss how to make generative AI safe and democratic.

FEB 23, 2024 Article

What Do We Mean When We Talk About "AI Democratization"?

With numerous parties calling for "AI democratization," Elizabeth Seger, director of the CASM digital policy research hub at Demos, discusses four meanings of the term.

Former Members, AIEI Board of Advisors

Johan H. Andresen

Former Member, AIEI Board of Advisors; Ferd

Jennifer Blanke

Former Member, AIEI Board of Advisors

Raja Chatila

Former Member, AIEI Board of Advisors; Sorbonne University

Seán Cleary

Former Member, AIEI Board of Advisors; FutureWorld Foundation

Christina J. Colclough

Former Member, AIEI Board of Advisors; The Why Not Lab

James Cottrell

Former Member, AIEI Board of Advisors; BakerHostetler

Mary "Missy" Cummings

Former Member, AIEI Board of Advisors; Mason Autonomy and Robotics Center, George Mason University

Renée Cummings

Former Member, AIEI Board of Advisors; The School of Data Science, University of Virginia

Nicholas Davis

Former Member, AIEI Board of Advisors; Thunderbird School of Global Management, Arizona State University

Arisa Ema

Former Member, AIEI Board of Advisors; University of Tokyo

Douglas Frantz

Former Member, AIEI Board of Advisors; Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development

Pascale Fung

Former Member, AIEI Board of Advisors; The Hong Kong University of Science & Technology (HKUST)

Cordel Green

Former Member, AIEI Board of Advisors; Broadcasting Commission of Jamaica; UNESCO-IFAP

Jean-Marie Guéhenno

Former Member, AIEI Board of Advisors; Former Carnegie Council Senior Fellow; Columbia University

Lydie Hakizimana

Former Member, AIEI Board of Advisors; Happy Hearts Preschools

Warren Hero

Former Member, AIEI Board of Advisors; Webber Wetzel

Angela Kane

Former Member, AIEI Board of Advisors; International Institute for Peace; United Nations University

Konstantinos Karachalios

Former Member, AIEI Board of Advisors; IEEE

Unni Karunakara

Former Member, AIEI Board of Advisors; Global Health Justice Partnership at Yale Law School

Kobi Leins

Former Member, AIEI Board of Advisors; King's College London

Helena Leurent

Former Member, AIEI Board of Advisors; Consumers International

Laura Londén

Former Member, AIEI Board of Advisors

Gary Marchant

Former Member, AIEI Board of Advisors; Center for Law, Science and Innovation at Arizona State University

Gary Marcus

Former Member, AIEI Board of Advisors; Robust.AI

Arthur Holland Michel

Carnegie Council Senior Fellow; Former Member, AIEI Board of Advisors

Michael Møller

Former Member, AIEI Board of Advisors; Geneva Science and Diplomacy Anticipator

Corinne Momal-Vanian

Former Member, AIEI Board of Advisors; Kofi Annan Foundation

Toshi Nakamura

Former Member, AIEI Board of Advisors; Kopernik

Elina Noor

Former Member, AIEI Board of Advisors; Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

Illah R. Nourbakhsh

Former Member, AIEI Board of Advisors; Carnegie Mellon University

Tom Philbeck

Former Member, AIEI Board of Advisors; SWIFT Partners

Lukas D. Pöhler

Former Member, AIEI Board of Advisors; ThinkTech; McKinsey & Company

Edson Prestes

Former Member, AIEI Board of Advisors; Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul

Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein

Former Member, AIEI Board of Advisors; International Peace Institute

Francesca Rossi

Former Member, AIEI Board of Advisors; IBM

Marc Rotenberg

Former Member, AIEI Board of Advisors; Center for AI and Digital Policy

Daniela Rus

Former Member, AIEI Board of Advisors; Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Nanjira Sambuli

Former Member, AIEI Board of Advisors

Mia Shah-Dand

Former Member, AIEI Board of Advisors; Lighthouse3

Mona Sloane

Former Member, AIEI Board of Advisors; University of Virginia

Dominik Stillhart

Former Member, AIEI Board of Advisors; International Committee of the Red Cross

Arun Sundararajan

Former Member, AIEI Board of Advisors; Leonard N. Stern School of Business

Hilary Sutcliffe

Former Member, AIEI Board of Advisors; SocietyInside

Jeroen van den Hoven

Former Member, AIEI Board of Advisors; Delft University of Technology

Yi Zeng

Former Member, AIEI Board of Advisors; Chinese Academy of Sciences

Lassina Zerbo

Former Member, AIEI Board of Advisors; Former Prime Minister, Burkina Faso