AI tools and LLMs such as ChatGPT are growing exponentially, but they have a fundamental flaw: they rarely accurately represent global south cultures. The digital divide becomes greater and greater, and cultures that have traditionally relied on oral transmission struggle to find their place in the digital future.
Digital heritage projects around global south communities that are created by and for the communities themselves are lacking. If digital scans exist, they are often the property of global north companies or museums
Digital archives and training datasets for AI rely heavily on written records, a particularly Western way of knowing, and do not honor oral traditions and other ways of knowing.
Build connections and collaborations across the global south, understanding and respecting both our shared experiences as well as our diversity.
Push the boundaries and address limitations in existing AI models, pioneering technology that centers communities and embraces diverse ways of knowledge creation and sharing in culture.
Address the bias and lack of representation in current systems that portray cliched, incorrect, or generalized pictures of many global south communities.
As the use of AI tools and LLMs such as ChatGPT grows exponentially, we become more aware of bias in the datasets and a lack of representation for non-dominant narratives. For a large majority of the world's population, they do not feel as though AI models and systems are made for them but rather reflect traditional hegemonies and power dynamics.
The exponential growth of technology continues to exacerbate the digital divide, leading to greater inequalities in access to data and representation in online environments.
"An AI of Our Own: Innovating AI to Include Diverse Ways of Knowing" is an initiative of Living Arts International, a 501(c)3 registered non-profit with the goal of creating a peaceful, sustainable future with the living arts as a catalyst for change.
The project was initiated in 2024 to leverage AI technology to create adaptive systems that preserve cultural heritage beyond traditional wikis and Western methodologies of documenting.
Read Our Manifesto(PDF)AAOO is at the beginning of a longer journey to develop inclusive digital futures. Through this project, we aim to explore and develop AI tools designed to accommodate a wide range of contexts - from low-code, electricity-light solutions to the incorporation of oral histories and lived experiences.
While we do not exclude the global north and its expertise in the technology, we ensure the work is grounded and led by global south stakeholders, and constantly question and address privilege, power dynamics, and minority experiences, even within the global south.
"We reimagine what AI can be when centered in and with the communities themselves."
From research to working groups to the foundational methodology of our manifesto, evolution and learning are integral to our project. We follow a model of 'living culture, living technology,' understanding that what is happening today will change tomorrow - not just in the world of AI, but culture as well, as narratives shift and update, rituals evolve, and knowledge is created and shared.
Tracking the development of our initiative to preserve and promote digital heritage through inclusive AI
Through a collaborative workshop, which identified the need to…
…understand the existing landscape of digital heritage efforts in Africa and Asia as well as initiatives around inclusive AI globally. The report outlined the need to define the methodology and approach of the AI part of AAOO, leading to…
…the curation of a working group with people from diverse backgrounds to create the manifesto. They met over the course of 5 online sessions to discuss and brainstorm.
Based on feedback from the working group and others from the AAOO consortium, the manifesto was released unofficially to consortium members in March.
We also presented a panel "Transmission by Avatar: From Oral to Digital Knowledge," on the evolution of knowledge transmission and the role of AI in the future.
In the coming months, we are developing a prototype in Cambodia based on the Manifesto's methodology on Buddhist chanting and traditional weaving. We are also working to formalize the Consortium and begin collaboration activities around the Manifesto.
We're building a global consortium to create more inclusive AI systems that honor diverse ways of knowing.
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