Governing and sustaining the AI Commons? Finding models to pass the pilot phase

Big Tech dominates AI development. They extract data and cultural resources from individuals, communities and from the open web, without giving back to the maintenance of these resources and with no regard to data protection principles. They valourise a “one-model-fits-all” approach, which increases exploitation of data workers. And they pay no regard to the worsening climate crisis. In response, many stakeholders are advocating for ‘enclosure’. Global AI policy is driven by imaginaries of ‘threat’ and ‘competitiveness’. Content creators are adopting restrictive interpretations of intellectual property to limit sharing and re-use of data and content, which threatens the open movement. A global push is needed to combat Big Tech's digital colonialism, resist a monoculture of thought, and foster participative and sustainable AI. Our panel of technology researchers and activists from the majority world will explore federated AI commons as a solution. We’ll discuss data governance, labour, economics and ecology. We’ll also present some design, regulatory and political interventions to enrich and sustain the AI commons.

This programme session is supported by Stiftung Mercator. / Dieser Programmpunkt wird durch die Stiftung Mercator unterstützt.