Co-Designing Shared Futures
Global Collaboration Creates Ethical Generative AI
Though the underlying technology was based on years of AI research by many individuals and organizations, the launch of ChatGPT by OpenAI in November of 2022 captured the collective imagination in an extraordinary way. The release started an ongoing conversation about the potential of the technology to improve our lives, and to harm them. In the public consciousness, AI has remained confusing, overwhelming, and a bit scary — even its name can seem imprecise and distracting. And with generative AI, phrases like “hallucination” and “job replacement” only foment more fear. Yet beneath the hype, doomerism, and techno-utopianism sits the fundamental question of what kind of societies we want to live in — and what choices we should make to realize them.
One month after the release of ChatGPT, a group of collaborators — the Nordic Centre at BI Norwegian Business School, the Institute for Technology and Society of Rio de Janeiro, the Technical University of Munich, and the Berkman Klein Center — decided it was time to discuss the implications of generative AI. We knew that if generative AI were to realize its true pro-social potential and to have its harms mitigated, then cross-sector, cross-disciplinary, and cross-national conversation was needed. Many in our community had already begun to explore use cases, governance, accountability, and the systems’ social impact broadly. It was time to rebuild bridges weakened by the COVID pandemic era.
In May 2023, the Berkman Klein Center hosted “Co-Designing Generative Futures: A Global Conversation about AI” in Cambridge, USA, bringing together colleagues old and new with backgrounds from academia, civil society, government, and industry, from over two dozen countries and all of the continents other than Antarctica. We discussed the need for access to data for research purposes and the need for real study.
At the same time, many emphasized that policymakers do not have the time; they need to act now. Action and study need to happen in parallel.
Today we introduce the Co-Designing Generative Futures series, a collection of multidisciplinary, transnational reflections and speculations about the transformative shifts brought on by generative artificial intelligence, as seen by members of the Berkman Klein Center community.
In the first set of essays, Samson Esayas addresses the potential implications of policy, speculating on the role the European Union’s AI Act may play in the governance and development of generative technologies. And Petra Molnar challenges us to consider the potential impact of generative AI on the surveillance of borders and of migrants, urging us to engage displaced people using participatory methods to understand their perspectives and protect their safety.
The second installment addresses how generative AI challenges fundamental concerns about our experiences of being human. Alexa Hasse examines how generative AI tools might change trust in our human social relationships. Sameer Hinduja offers a deep dive into the sobering potential of generative AI tools to perpetuate online harassment at massive scale. And Bill Shribman brings the perspective of a children’s media producer as he explores how media literacy education may need to shift in light of advancements in AI technology.
As members of our community continue to study generative AI, both the urgency and the need for deeper consideration persist. Policymakers are moving quickly towards substantial legislation in multiple regions across the world. The technology keeps improving. Technology innovators are finding new applications for generative AI, and we likely have only scratched the surface of what is to come. Researchers are publishing new findings about concerns regarding bias, data privacy, data ownership, disinformation, and vast inequities across regions and communities. And they urgently need more access to data. Looking forward, the necessity for continued collaboration across sectoral, national, and disciplinary boundaries seems all the more critical.
As Senior Director of Programs and Strategy at the Berkman Klein Center, I am committed to sustaining co-design efforts. We welcome fresh perspectives and opportunities for engagement from around the globe, and from new sectors and stakeholders.
