Digital Futures Lab

📢 CALLING ALL FUTURISTS AND THINKERS! 📢 Digital Futures Lab invites 300-word entries for its Speculative Friction project, that seeks to craft multi-media narratives about the future and unintended consequences of Gen AI on marginalised social groups and other users in low-resource contexts. Conversations about AI and its impacts are often very abstract and generalised. By taking a storytelling approach, we aim to contextualise these conversations to the lived experiences of diverse social identities in India. Our goal is to raise awareness, encourage dialogue, and promote responsible AI practices within India’s “AI for Social Good” community. Each narrative will be accompanied by an interactive tool kit to stimulate further discussion and reflection. 🔗 Learn more about Speculative Friction & submit your entries via this form: https://lnkd.in/dNYgazBS The project is supported by Rohini Nilekani Philanthropies and the last date to send in your submissions is December 2, 2024. Urvashi Aneja Sasha John Harleen Kaur Shivranjana Rathore #AlforSocialGood #techforgood #ResponsibleAI #OpenCall #GenerativeAI #AIEthics

📢 We are absolutely stoked to announce the line-up for India's first Responsible AI Lab Symposium! First up, we have Kalika Bali from Microsoft Research India joining us as a panelist! In case you haven't already come across her extensive work focusing on language technologies' capacity to benefit low-resource language communities, Kalika aims to create inclusive applications for diverse languages and cultures. Recognised on the TIME100 AI list in 2023, she is currently involved in Project VeLLM and her work explores the societal impact of foundational GenAI models, seeking to develop equitable AI solutions. Join us at the Symposium to hear and learn from Kalika. 📅 Thursday, November 28, 2024 🕙 10 AM - 1:30 PM 📍 Venue partner: Museum of Art and Photography (MAP), Bangalore 🔗 Seats are limited, so be sure to register now: https://lnkd.in/dKuyjieC Watch this space as we share the rest of our stellar line-up in the coming days. Digital Empowerment Foundation SNEHA (Society for Nutrition, Education and Health Action) Digital Green ARMMAN Agami (OpenNyAI) Myna Mahila Foundation UNICEF Innovation Haqdarshak ARTPARK Avanti Fellows Video Volunteers QUEST Alliance Centre for Mental Health Law & Policy, ILS, Pune Point of View Urvashi Aneja Sasha John Anushka Jain Shreeja S. #AlforSocialGood #techforgood #ResponsibleAILab #ResponsibleAI #Bangalore

🎙️ Episode 02 of the Code Green podcast is out now! 💥 In this episode, Agriculture 4.0 and the Future of Asia's Farmers, we deep-dive into the opportunities, challenges and risks of using AI for agriculture and how it might impact climate change. Our guests this month, Anubha Singh and Neth Daño, and our Founder-Director and host, Urvashi Aneja discuss the implications of AI adoption for agriculture in Asia, where most farmers are smallholders and a digital divide persists. For the most part, our speakers are sceptical about the use of AI for agriculture, highlighting that it may not be what farmers need and ultimately serves narrow commercial interests. Catch the episode wherever you get your podcasts! 🎧 Tune in now - https://lnkd.in/dapnXJr8 Code Green is a podcast and newsletter series that deep dives into the intersection of Al and climate-tech in Asia; and is brought to you by Digital Futures Lab in partnership with Earth Venture Capital Foundation initiatives. Cover art and design by Nayantara Surendranath Tien Nguyen Dona Mathew Meredith Stinger Shivranjana Rathore Tammanna Aurora #AgriTech #climateaction #CodeGreen #Podcast #ClimateTech #aiandclimateaction #AsiaClimateFutures #AI #AIEthics

As we gear up for episode two of the Code Green podcast to drop soon, make sure that you have listened to episode one, 'Geospatial AI and Emerging Opportunities for Climate Action' with two fantastic guests! Here's a snippet from the episode, where our guest Izni Zahidi (DEng, MIEM, PEng) shares the challenges and risks of applying Geospatial AI models in the Asian context, where data protection regulation and other kind of regulatory frameworks may still be relatively nascent. 🎧 Tune in now - https://lnkd.in/d4fxqE_t Izni is an award-winning Civil Engineering academic at Monash University Malaysia and has over 16 years of academic and industry experience. Her primary research is in using remote sensing, GIS, and modelling to develop sustainable and climate-resilient communities. Her research team assesses environmental risks such as flooding, water pollution, vegetation degradation, and urban heat island effect to improve natural resources management. Code Green is a podcast and newsletter series that deep dives into the intersection of Al and climate-tech in Asia; and is brought to you by Digital Futures Lab in partnership with Earth Venture Capital Foundation initiatives. The podcast is available wherever you get your podcasts. Cover art and design by Nayantara Surendranath Urvashi Aneja Tien Nguyen Dona Mathew Tammanna Aurora Meredith Stinger Shivranjana Rathore earthwhile Ishan Loya #GeospatialAI #CodeGreen #Podcast #ClimateTech #aiandclimateaction #AI #AIEthics

#IntheNews | Our Founder and Director, Urvashi Aneja co-authored the op-ed, 'Building Trust and Inclusivity in AI-driven Climate Action', with Deepali Khanna, in The Economic Times. With an ever-increasing enthusiasm for Al products and services for climate action, Urvashi and Deepali urge action to rethink our approach to solving the climate crisis, without worsening it in all the hype. 🔗 Read the piece here: https://lnkd.in/d4SVZJCn

#WeekendReading | We wrap this week with a deep dive into key recommendations from our year-long, one-of-its-kind study, 'From Code to Consequence: Interrogating Gender Biases in LLMs within the Indian Context'. Developed with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, these recommendations are aimed at fostering the development and deployment of sustainable and inclusive LLM applications by enabling developers to have frameworks to enhance gender equity in their projects. Read now: https://lnkd.in/gnPUE8S2 We would also love to hear from you. If you are an LLM-based app developer who is keen on trying out these recommendations, please do write to us! Thank you to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, ARMMAN, Digital Green, KissanAI, Myna Mahila Foundation, Wadhwani AI, Centre For Responsible AI (CeRAI), Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, Gokul S Krishnan, Karya, Dr. Maya Indira Ganesh, Nimmi Rangaswamy, Sara Chamberlain, Soma Dhavala, Varun Hemachandran, Safiya Husain, Saurabh Karn (Hiring), Kalika Bali, Microsoft Research, Aditya Vashistha, Quicksand Design Studio, Urvashi Aneja, Aarushi Gupta, Anushka Jain, Sasha John, Meredith Stinger and Shivranjana Rathore! #AI #LLM #GenderBias #India #ResponsibleAI #ResponsibleData #DigitalDevelopment #InclusiveAI #DigitalIndia

📢 Announcing India's first Responsible AI Lab Fellowship Symposium, and you are invited! We are thrilled to announce the first edition of our Responsible AI Lab Fellowship Symposium that marks a key milestone in the AI for Social Good domain. 📅 Thursday, November 28, 2024 🕙 10 AM - 1:30 PM 📍 Venue partner: Museum of Art and Photography (MAP), Bangalore 🔗 Seats are limited, so be sure to register now: https://lnkd.in/dKuyjieC The culmination of our first Responsible AI Lab Fellowship with 14 Fellow organisations, at the Symposium you will: - Hear from the Fellows on their journeys implementing Responsible AI principles and practices in their programmes - Learn from thought leaders, funders, and policy shapers about the future of AI for Social Good in India - Get an exclusive preview of DFL’s Playbook for Responsible AI for Social Impact - Have the opportunity to secure your spot in the next edition of the Fellowship See you in Bangalore! Digital Empowerment Foundation SNEHA (Society for Nutrition, Education and Health Action) Digital Green ARMMAN Agami (OpenNyAI) Myna Mahila Foundation UNICEF Innovation Haqdarshak ARTPARK Avanti Fellows Video Volunteers QUEST Alliance Centre for Mental Health Law & Policy, ILS, Pune Point of View Urvashi Aneja Sasha John Anushka Jain Shreeja S. #AlforSocialGood #techforgood #ResponsibleAILab #ResponsibleAI #Bangalore

📢 CALL FOR APPLICATIONS: ALTERNATIVE FUTURES 📢 Lab: AI for Social Good | Co-creating sustainable AI + Climate Futures Location: #Bengaluru Alternative Futures is inviting applications for a 2-day lab where civil society organisations, innovators, activists, researchers, environmentalists, technologists and litigators can come together to explore how digital technologies are being leveraged for climate action, particularly data-driven machine learning applications, across sectors in India. This could include interventions in agri-tech, smart cities, mobility, energy, disaster response and climate education and awareness (not an exhaustive list). At the same time we will address climate costs that emerge in the resource-heavy technology sector, especially in light of compute-intense generative AI applications. Hosted by AlgorithmWatch and Digital Futures Lab in partnership with Goethe Institut Indien / Max Mueller Bhavan #Bangalore and Quicksand Design Studio, the two-day event will be an opportunity to spotlight use cases through demonstrations, understand the specific challenges and risks stakeholders face and map pathways for sustainable and equitable climate futures. 📅 November 7-8, 2024 🚨 Application Deadline: November 1, 2024 📍Goethe-Institut / Max Mueller Bhavan Bangalore 🔗 https://lnkd.in/gvzXhuQX About Alternative Futures Alternative Futures is an initiative that aims to forge connections between civil society institutions in South Asia and Germany, focusing on the use of digital media to promote democratic practices and structures. The project provides a platform for activists, researchers, and experts from digital civil society institutions to exchange concepts, strategies, and insights through a carefully curated series of labs, an idea hackathon, and a synthesis phase. #AlternativeFutures #hackathon #AI #ClimateFutures Urvashi Aneja Dona Mathew Tactical Tech

Fossil fuels - coal, oil and gas - account for over 75% of global greenhouse gas emissions and nearly 90% of all CO2 emissions. The energy sector holds the key to averting the worst effects of climate change. In Asia, some of the highest investments in climate-tech are in the energy sector. For example, in 2023, energy accounted for 29% of VC investments in the Asia-Pacific region (excluding China). In the latest issue of the Code Green newsletter, we bring you a zoomed out mapping of a developing power grid, along with sharing the criticality of the energy sector's adoption of climate action strategies and the role of Responsible AI in this transition. 🔗 Find the newsletter here: https://lnkd.in/dCcxYUQK Infographic by Nayantara Surendranath Earth Venture Capital Tien Nguyen Urvashi Aneja Dona Mathew Tammanna Aurora Meredith Stinger Quicksand Design Studio Shivranjana Rathore Ishan Loya earthwhile #AI #ClimateTech #Asia #CodeGreen #AsiaClimateFutures #aiandclimateaction #EnergyFutures #ClimateAction #climatechange #ArtificialIntelligence #Energy #CleanEnergy

"Safety is essential, but it is not a high enough standard to judge AI & the companies building it. Restoring a rights & accountability-based agenda to AI governance is particularly important for countries like India." Urvashi Aneja writes in the Hindustan Times on ways to design India's AI safety architecture. Read now: https://lnkd.in/depc4EmM #ResponsibleAI #AISafety #GenerativeAI