LIST OF PANELS

Regulation has historically played catch-up with emerging technologies. Awareness is often raised post-facto and in a manner of managing the risks emanating from the application of the technology to society at large (Jasanoff 1997, 2016; Law & McCall 2024). In this process, the promise of technology alleviating developmental problems often ends up exacerbating them, widening the chasms of social, political, and economic inequities, especially for the marginalized, in the name of whom these technological interventions are justified in the first place (Benjamin 2019; Barocas et al., 2017; Moran-Thomas 2020).

The current swathe of AI technologies has proven to be discriminating on grounds of race, class, gender, and even zip codes, owing to systemic biases encoded in the historical data they’re trained on (Obermeyer et al., 2019; Akter et al., 2021; Future of Life Institute 2023; Stilgoe 2020). Narratives of technological inevitability and the idea of technocracy, posing regulation as an obstacle to innovation, routinely dominate conversations on AI (Jasanoff 2016). Such concerns add to the governance challenges of these technologies. Governments around the world have been grappling with actors such as technology companies that are involved in the design and manufacturing of AI systems and are significantly ahead of the curve.

The deployment of AI in the Global South has been further complicated by being embedded in the underlying relations of data colonialism and data capitalism which reinforces historical patterns of colonial and capitalist exploitations of these societies (Zuboff 2019; Couldry and Mejias 2019). Furthermore, the adoption of these technologies by the national policy elites in coutries of the Global South passes through a developmental imaginary which positions them as crucial for the socio-economic development of the nation, even as it puts the rights, especially of the already marginalized, at risk (Bhattacharya & Sanasam 2024; George 2017).

This roundtable discussion will take this discussion further and speak to one or more of the following research questions:

Research questions

1.     How can we understand the peculiar evolution of AI technologies in societies of the Global South?

2.     How can historical cases of technological regulation be deployed to inform the development of effective policies for the governance of AI technologies?

3.     How are countries in the Global South adopting strategies to regulate AI?

4.     How are Governments and the private sector negotiating authority and legitimacy over regulatory aspects of AI technology?

5.     How does global relations of capitalism and colonialism influence adoption of AI in the Global South?

6.     How does geopolitics influence the governance of AI in the Global South and other jurisdictions?

7.     How can governance frameworks be designed to proactively manage the societal risks and benefits of AI-based technologies while ensuring more equitable outcomes?

Regulation has historically played catch-up with emerging technologies. Awareness is often raised post-facto and in a manner of managing the risks emanating from the application of the technology to society at large (Jasanoff 1997, 2016; Law & McCall 2024). In this process, the promise of technology alleviating developmental problems often ends up exacerbating them, widening the chasms of social, political, and economic inequities, especially for the marginalized, in the name of whom these technological interventions are justified in the first place (Benjamin 2019; Barocas et al., 2017; Moran-Thomas 2020).

The current swathe of AI technologies has proven to be discriminating on grounds of race, class, gender, and even zip codes, owing to systemic biases encoded in the historical data they’re trained on (Obermeyer et al., 2019; Akter et al., 2021; Future of Life Institute 2023; Stilgoe 2020). Narratives of technological inevitability and the idea of technocracy, posing regulation as an obstacle to innovation, routinely dominate conversations on AI (Jasanoff 2016). Such concerns add to the governance challenges of these technologies. Governments around the world have been grappling with actors such as technology companies that are involved in the design and manufacturing of AI systems and are significantly ahead of the curve.

The deployment of AI in the Global South has been further complicated by being embedded in the underlying relations of data colonialism and data capitalism which reinforces historical patterns of colonial and capitalist exploitations of these societies (Zuboff 2019; Couldry and Mejias 2019). Furthermore, the adoption of these technologies by the national policy elites in coutries of the Global South passes through a developmental imaginary which positions them as crucial for the socio-economic development of the nation, even as it puts the rights, especially of the already marginalized, at risk (Bhattacharya & Sanasam 2024; George 2017).

This roundtable discussion will take this discussion further and speak to one or more of the following research questions:

Research questions

1.     How can we understand the peculiar evolution of AI technologies in societies of the Global South?

2.     How can historical cases of technological regulation be deployed to inform the development of effective policies for the governance of AI technologies?

3.     How are countries in the Global South adopting strategies to regulate AI?

4.     How are Governments and the private sector negotiating authority and legitimacy over regulatory aspects of AI technology?

5.     How does global relations of capitalism and colonialism influence adoption of AI in the Global South?

6.     How does geopolitics influence the governance of AI in the Global South and other jurisdictions?

7.     How can governance frameworks be designed to proactively manage the societal risks and benefits of AI-based technologies while ensuring more equitable outcomes?