We are in the midst of transformative change thanks to rapid advances in AI and LLMs. As excited as I am about harnessing AI to improve global health equity, I am constantly grounded by the reality that this is an emerging – albeit exploding – technology that must be approached responsibly and humbly. At the forefront of my mind is how we must continually engage with the local and global experts who are already leading responsible AI efforts in low- and middle-income countries. My belief all along is that the global community must approach AI vastly differently than it has with previous technological sea changes. No longer can the global north and high-income countries drive the agenda and decide what does and does not need to be addressed in local communities in the global south. It is incumbent that the pursuit of AI-driven LLMs and technology be locally led and driven. We cannot risk creating another chasm of inequity when it comes to AI. That’s why I am thrilled to see local innovators around the world identifying health and development challenges that can be addressed with AI solutions. To ensure that we are continuously pushing ourselves to pursue AI in a responsible and forward-looking manner that is guided by local and regional insights and expertise, I am privileged to be joined by a team of outside experts who comprise the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation AI Ethics & Safety Advisory Committee. With a constant eye towards mitigating harm, the Committee helps to steer strategic decision-making and advise on how best to guard against unintended biases and consequences. The aim of this commitment is to provide insights on program design, ethical best practices within our organization, and accountability. The Committee is a dynamic group, and as we continue to collaborate with experts across domains in AI for development, there is potential for this group to expand to ensure that we are constantly integrating diverse perspectives and outside expertise. I am pleased to call on the vast experience and expertise of these esteemed colleagues: Juliana Rotich, Tariro Makadzange, Helen Rees, Zulfiqar Bhutta, and Rachel Adams.
Dear Mr. Trevor Mundel, my company has developed a unique Vision AI solution with ultra high accuracy the outperforms anything commercially available in the market. Our target sectors are anywhere from security to medical imaging and drug development. Currently, we are planning to specialize with our IASI AI platform. I would be interested to see if there is an opportunity to fund this global innovation so that we make a difference!
I hope you will share your insights from the committee discussions, Trevor Mundel. Healthcare equity and the “digital divide” share many parallels.
Trevor I absolutely agree with you, check the post I tagged you in about a Chatbot for Disaster Victims.
We appreciate and support Shweta Chooramani
Kudos for leading from the front on this, as bigger organizations ought to. FR laws in India are codified such that no NGO can ever become self-sustaining and can barely cover capacity building for their staff. AI is already helping close the gap, just as it is doing that for grant writing. Thank you for raising it, Trevor.
"No longer can the global north and high-income countries drive the agenda and decide what does and does not need to be addressed in local communities in the global south." I respect your humbling vision, Trevor. To realize this, unless we make 'non-competitive' grants available solely for capacity building, developing countries will laggard. There are just not enough social innovators in the Global South who regardless of zip code are dreaming, delegating, and donning in the futuristic language of AI. Innovations will stem when there is equity in knowledge of what AI is and how to use it. Like, the Big 5 tech-funded Partnership on AI (doing great work) currently has 109 partners spread over 17 countries. Out of which only 4 partners are from 3 developing countries - India (2), Kenya (1), and China (1). How do we ensure just representation where decisions are made? To make a shift from donor-coerced end users to design-conscious early adopters, leaders like Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and alike may have to risk more dollars to purposefully upskill 'not-so-sophisticated' actors. Because if global giants can't afford it or won't then who will?
We are so excited about the opportunity to be breaking new ground as one of the 50 first AI-grantees of Grand Challenges! We are shouldering the responsibility with great committment and enthusiasm, and proudly so as a South African NGO, THINK, solving problems that are pertinent to our continent and beyond! Our project ‘Unlocking the Power of Data’ uses AI for data analysis and decision support for managers and coordinators of health programmes in LMIC. We aim to share our learnings widely through AI training and dedicated tools as we continue this journey. It was awesome to participate in the GCAM this week and meet the dynamic team of innovators and trail breakers of this cohort! Big shout-out to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for their foresight and support! 🎉
This is great, and I look forward to hearing more about engaging Global South and partnership for capacity development and applied use in public health.
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1yI commend this step to include the global south in these important conversations, Trevor Mundel. As a non-technical person who’s worked in the #ai industry and is passionate about truly democratizing access to it, I think it’s also important to include a diverse group of experts, not just in terms of location or ethnicity but also educational and work backgrounds. Non-technical professionals are often excluded from shaping the usage of technology while they’re the ones using and implementing such tools.