Humanitarian AI Today

On this episode of Humanitarian AI Today, Ali Al Mokdad, a seasoned humanitarian leader with extensive field and headquarters experience, offers a very personal perspective on the evolving landscape of humanitarian aid, particularly in the context of the current and hugely destructive aid funding crisis. Brant Phillips, producer of the podcast, and Ali speak in depth about Ali’s writing and analysis on the challenges of bureaucracy and inefficiency in the humanitarian sector, and the need to incrementally optimize processes and strategies. They also discuss in detail a tribute that Ali wrote in response to the crisis to those who kept going when the systems went silent, entitled: “The World Didn’t Fall When Help Left.” The tribute which reads like a poem can be found here: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7316798459745853441/ Ali weaves together powerful narratives of human resilience and solidarity with a critical examination of aid operations and artificial intelligence's potential to reshape the sector. The interview highlights the enduring strength of local communities, showcasing examples of individuals and groups rallying to support each other in the face of adversity, filling gaps when traditional aid structures falter due to funding shortfalls and other systemic challenges. The interview is part of a new special series of short episodes published on Mondays, providing a broader range of individuals with opportunities to talk about their work, share their views on humanitarian applications of artificial intelligence and discuss developments shaping the humanitarian and technology sectors.

Suzy Madigan, Founder of The Machine Race and Senior Humanitarian Advisor at CARE International, speaks with Humanitarian AI Today podcast Producer, Brent Phillips, about her blog series on AI and society. In this bite-sized episode, they chat through the wide range of ideas explored in The Machine Race blog — from how AI intersects with politics, culture, and philosophy, to its social impact and safety. They also discuss the role of AI in humanitarian operations in the context of aid cuts and what this means for vulnerable communities. This is the first in a HAI mini-series showcasing newsletters and podcasts on AI helping to keep humanitarians informed and connected across communities of practice. Navigate to The Machine Race by Suzy Madigan on Medium and hit the envelope icon to subscribe to new articles: https://medium.com/@themachinerace

Kai Hopkins, Head of Research Initiatives with Elrha, summarizes hard dilemmas facing the humanitarian and development sectors following massive cuts in government funding. Offering takeaways from Humanitarian Networking and Partnerships Week in Geneva and discussions with other attendees, Kai and Brent discuss four key questions with no easy answers that as a sector we need to consider in response to funding cuts, and discuss the impact of cuts on humanitarian applications of artificial intelligence. Kai shares how his team is responding to the crisis and calls for a fundamental shift in how the humanitarian sector approaches partnerships, emphasizing inclusivity, collaboration, and a willingness to embrace new actors and models. This episode is part of a short interview series, geared for publishing on Mondays, providing individuals with opportunities to briefly talk about their work and share their views on humanitarian applications of artificial intelligence or to talk about developments shaping the humanitarian and technology sectors.

Payal Dalal, Executive Vice President of Global Programs at the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth, and Deval Sanghavi, Co-founder and Partner at Dasra, speak with Aleks Berditchevskaia, Principal Researcher, Nesta Centre for Collective Intelligence Design, about the Center’s Artificial Intelligence to Accelerate Inclusion Challenge, a global call for AI solutions to accelerate inclusion and economic empowerment. Dasra is a funding partner of the AI Challenge, and Dasra’s other co-founder, Neera Nundy, participated as a judge for the Challenge. Done in partnership with data.org, the winners were announced in December 2024: https://newsroom.mastercard.com/news/press/2024/december/mastercard-center-for-inclusive-growth-and-data-org-announce-ai2ai-challenge-awardees/ In this Humanitarian AI Today podcast episode, guest hosted by Aleks Berditchevskaia, Payal and Deval speak in depth about the challenge, this year’s five winners, and share their takeaways and learnings from the challenge and global submission process. Payal and Deval emphasize the importance of bringing partners together to organize and support these kinds of challenges and accelerators, which help source innovations and advance participatory approaches to technology development. They highlight the speed at which the technology sector is advancing and offer advice on keeping pace with, and adapting to, challenges and opportunities that are emerging. More about the Center’s work and its upcoming Global Inclusive Growth Summit, taking place on April 24th in Washington D.C., can be found here: https://globalinclusivegrowthsummit.com/

The UK Humanitarian Innovation Hub (UKHIH), Elrha, and Humanitarian AI Today bring panelists together to discuss the subject of AI governance in connection with humanitarian applications of artificial intelligence. Representing the humanitarian, academic, regulatory and private sectors, Eugenia Olliaro, former Responsible Data for Children Lead at UNICEF, Stefaan Verhulst, Co-founder of NYU’s GovLab, and Meeri Haataja, CEO of Saidot, provide their views and insight on AI governance and on AI governance in humanitarian action. Next, representing the technology and private sectors, Agata Ferretti, AI an Data Governance Expert with IBM, and Aparna Bhushan, Data Governance and Digital Policy Advisor, discuss how initiatives like the AI Alliance are approaching AI governance and provide unique insight on the role of open-source AI in promoting transparency and trust, and the importance of addressing the digital divide and ensuring that AI works for everyone. Panelists explain why it’s important for humanitarian actors to become aware of broader governance conversations connected with AI. They help to outline what AI governance is about, they share how their different teams are approaching AI governance and touch on the challenges of regulating and deploying AI and the challenges of connecting with and engaging communities in humanitarian settings, and the need for adaptive and context-aware governance approaches, real accountability, and global inclusivity in AI policy and governance. Eugenia, Meeri, Stefaan, Agata, and Aparna provide valuable insight on AI governance from their different vantage points and join together in advocating for greater engagement around AI governance. The podcast episode, guest-hosted by Brent Phillips from Humanitarian AI Today, is part of a six-part panel discussion series sponsored and produced by Humanitarian AI Today in collaboration with the UK Humanitarian Innovation Hub (UKHIH) and Elrha, with funding from UK International Development from the UK government. The series examines critical aspects of humanitarian applications of artificial intelligence. More information about this episode, its focus, and upcoming discussions can be found by subscribing to the UK Humanitarian Innovation Hub and Elrha's new AI newsletter: http://ukhih.org/newsletter.

The UK Humanitarian Innovation Hub (UKHIH), Elrha, and Humanitarian AI Today have brought together a panel to discuss the subject of humanitarian principles with an emphasis on discussing the principles in connection with uses of artificial intelligence in humanitarian action. Aleks Berditchevskaia, Principal Researcher, Nesta Centre for Collective Intelligence Design; Marc DuBois, Independent Researcher and Consultant in humanitarian sector; Olivier Mills, Founder of Baobab Tech; and Brent Phillips, Producer of the Humanitarian AI Today podcast, introduce listeners to the subject of humanitarian principles and summarize key principles underpinning humanitarian action. Panelists share key takeaways on humanitarian principles from their work, discussing lessons learned and risks associated with neglecting core humanitarian principles in AI use in the face of explosive advances in AI and whole landscape changes in human-machine interaction that we’re seeing today, and then explore how to align AI initiatives with humanitarian values. For more information on this episode and the rest of UKHIH and Elrha’s six-part panel discussion series, subscribe to their new AI newsletter here: http://ukhih.org/newsletter.

The UK Humanitarian Innovation Hub (UKHIH), Elrha, and Humanitarian AI Today have brought together a panel to critically assess evidence from real-world AI use cases and their impact on humanitarian action, while exploring approaches to learning and evidence-building. In this episode, Zineb Bhaby, AI Lead at the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), Zita Lengyel-Wang, Matching Manager at Tech to the Rescue, and Thomas Byrnes, Humanitarian and Social Protection Consultant, join Maria Kett, Professor of Humanitarianism and Social Inclusion, and Tigmanshu Bhatnagar, Lecturer in Global Disability Innovation, from University College London. Hosted by Brent Phillips, Producer of the Humanitarian AI Today podcast.   As we delve into Zineb, Zita, and Thomas’ perspectives on AI applications in humanitarian contexts, they highlight challenges faced when implementing and testing these tools, and their insights shed light on the complexities of gathering evidence to assess AI’s impact on humanitarian action.   Maria and Tigmanshu then summarize recent key research findings, providing our listeners with a deeper understanding of the broader implications of their work, supported by UKHIH and Elrha. To close, the panelists share key takeaways on evaluating evidence from AI use cases, discussing lessons learned and offering actionable recommendations for improving evidence-building and enhancing the rollout of AI applications in the humanitarian sector.   For more information on this episode and the rest of UKHIH and Elrha’s six-part panel discussion series, subscribe to their new AI newsletter here: http://ukhih.org/newsletter.

Abdallah El Ali, a Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) researcher with a background in cognitive science discusses trustworthy AI, explainability and transparency with Ahmad Tafti from the University of Pittsburgh and Humanitarian AI Today’s Producer, Brent Phillips. Dr. Abdallah El Ali, a Research Scientist at the Research Institute for Mathematics and Computer Science in the Netherlands (Centrum Wiskunde & Informatica) who is also an Assistant Professor at Utrecht University and Dr. Ahmad Tafti, Director of the Pitt HexAI Research Laboratory at the University of Pittsburgh and Interim Director of Scientific Affairs with Pitt’s Computational Pathology and AI Center of Excellence (CPACE) and head of AI at Youki GmbH provide insight to individuals interested in humanitarian applications of artificial intelligence on human-computer interaction, information transparency and challenges associated with human cognition, attention, learning and information overload. The discussion touches on emerging transparency regulations governing uses of AI systems, the impact of AI generated content on our lives and how humans process transparency information on uses of AI and data, AI generated content and on the functioning of AI algorithms. The discussion is especially valuable for humanitarian actors considering information disclosure strategies on uses and risks associated with AI. The episode builds on discussions on AI transparency launched by the UK Humanitarian Innovation Hub (UKHIH) and Elrha, and combines insight gained from research into health AI applications and explainability.

In this episode, the UK Humanitarian Innovation Hub (UKHIH), Elrha, and Humanitarian AI Today bring panelists together to critically examine the colonial approach in the rollout of AI applications, including the extraction of data from vulnerable groups without adequate representation or input. Shaza Alrihawi, Researcher, Human Rights Advocate, and Consultant specializing in working with refugees at the Leibniz Institute for Educational Trajectories; Shruti Viswanathan, an Independent Consultant, Data Governance and Digital Inclusion; Olubayo Adekanmbi, CEO and Co-founder of EqualyzAI and CEO and Founder of Data Science Nigeria; and Helen McElhinney, Executive Director with the CDAC Network, join Brent Phillips, Producer of the Humanitarian AI Today podcast, to discuss the rollout of AI applications, the extraction of data from vulnerable groups without adequate representation or input, key challenges in engaging affected populations and communities on the topic of AI and how we can roll out AI technologies in humanitarian work in an ethical and impactful manner. This episode is part of a six-part panel discussion series produced by Humanitarian AI Today in collaboration with the UK Humanitarian Innovation Hub and Elrha, with funding from UK International Development from the UK Government. More information about this episode and details about the rest of the series can be found by subscribing to the UK Humanitarian Innovation Hub and Elrha's new AI newsletter: http://ukhih.org/newsletter.

The UK Humanitarian Innovation Hub (UKHIH), Elrha, and Humanitarian AI Today bring panelists together to discuss transparency and strategies for improving transparency and accountability in AI implementations. Michael Hind, Distinguished Research Staff Member at IBM Research; Shadrock Roberts, Director of Global Data Protection & Privacy at Mercy Corps; Scott Turnbull, Chief Technology Officer at Data Friendly Space; Liam Nicoll, Signpost Product Lead at Signpost AI Lab; and Sarah Spencer, a consultant who regularly speaks on humanitarian operations and applications of artificial intelligence, contribute their insights on transparency and ways of improving transparency and accountability in AI implementations. Touching on the existing landscape of AI initiatives within the humanitarian sector, key players, and what transparency means broadly and in practice, their views connect the humanitarian and technology communities and provide valuable insight into why transparency is crucial for building trust in AI systems and engaging stakeholders in developing and leveraging uses of AI for good. The panel discussion, guest hosted by Brent Phillips from Humanitarian AI Today, mixes input on AI systems, technical information disclosure, AI governance and regulation, and how humanitarian organizations are approaching developing, testing and deploying safe, responsible and trustworthy AI applications that are transparent and accountable to end users. Panelists each share their views on ways of improving transparency and offer ideas on directions to expand the transparency conversation. In closing, panelists provide a strong case for greater information sharing on AI use cases and greater inclusivity around transparency throughout the AI building and deployment process. This episode is part of a six-part panel discussion series sponsored and produced by Humanitarian AI Today in collaboration with the UK Humanitarian Innovation Hub (UKHIH) and Elrha, with funding from UK International Development from the UK government.   More information about this episode, its focus and upcoming discussions can be found by subscribing to the UK Humanitarian Innovation Hub and Elrha's new AI newsletter: http://ukhih.org/newsletter.

Lindsey Moore, Founder and CEO of DevelopMetrics, discusses her team’s upcoming AI for Development Summit and provides an update on DevelopMetric’s current work helping humanitarian organizations develop and test AI applications. Lindsey and Humanitarian AI Today podcast producer, Brent Phillips, touch on advancements in AI and the state of humanitarian AI, the importance of humanitarian organizations and technology companies participating in technical working groups, the need for funding for critical humanitarian AI research and development and importantly the need for funding to bridge the digital divide and ensure diverse representation in AI models particularly for underrepresented communities, and touch on AI transparency, Signpost’s new AI Lab, UK Humanitarian Innovation Hub projects and other subjects.

Sian White, Director of the UK Humanitarian Innovation Hub; Dan Amias, Senior Innovation Learning Advisor at Elrha; and Daniela Weber, Director of NetHope’s Center for the Digital Nonprofit, discuss the growing importance of AI in the humanitarian sector and introduce Elrha and UKHIH’s new AI newsletter. Joining Brent Phillips of Humanitarian AI Today, they highlight recent AI initiatives by UKHIH, Elrha, and NetHope, emphasizing their collaborative role in advancing humanitarian efforts. They also share insights from their AI learning journeys, key takeaways, and ongoing challenges in harnessing AI for humanitarian impact.

Karin Maasel and Doug Smith from Data Friendly Space update listeners on GANNET, a collaborative, generative AI-powered tool that DFS developed in partnership with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to help humanitarian organizations access, extract, and visualize information to boost the timeliness, effectiveness, and accuracy of humanitarian responses and anticipatory action. Over three recording sessions, Karin (DFS CEO) and Doug (DFS Chief of Staff) answer a broad range of questions covering their team’s work and new tools, the evolving humanitarian AI landscape and AI-powered tools being developed by other humanitarian initiatives, trusted data sources and open data sharing frameworks, and the importance of domain specific AI model training, human-centered design and responsible AI development as well as the need for greater cross-sector collaboration.

Vanessa Parli, Director of Research Programs at Stanford's Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence (HAI), speaks with Allison Cohen, Senior Applied AI Project Manager at Mila. This episode was recorded for both the Humanitarian AI Today podcast and The World We Are Building podcast, which seek to broaden the conversation around artificial intelligence. Vanessa and Allison discuss how HAI reviews and selects AI research projects to support based on their technical soundness, potential impact, ethical considerations, and alignment with HAI's goals and values. Vanessa emphasizes the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration, which fosters a holistic approach to AI development. She also discusses the role of ethics in AI development and the challenges of bridging the gap between cutting-edge research and real-world applications, highlighting the importance of considering the potential impact of AI on society. This interview was recorded to provide humanitarian organizations, grantmakers and others with insights into how leading AI institutes handle research project cultivation and evaluation.

In this episode of Humanitarian AI Today, Sarah Spencer, a consultant for the UK Humanitarian Innovation Hub, interviews Kate Behncken, Corporate VP and Global Head of Microsoft Philanthropies. Kate discusses how Microsoft Philanthropies is harnessing AI to drive digital inclusion and empower nonprofits and communities worldwide. She shares details on her team’s work with organizations like UNICEF, IOM, and the British Heart Foundation, highlighting how AI is being leveraged to address pressing global challenges. The conversation also explores the ethical challenges of AI, focusing on responsible AI development, balancing humanitarian principles with AI ethics, privacy, and security concerns, and emphasizing the importance of inclusivity in AI development to avoid marginalizing vulnerable communities. Tune in to learn how AI is shaping the future of humanitarian work and how Microsoft is driving social impact across the globe.

Rolf Kleef, former CTO and Senior IATI Consultant with Data4Development, shares his views on Signpost’s new AI Lab and on the integration of AI into humanitarian operations with Humanitarian AI Today’s podcast producer Brent Phillips. Rolf specializes in helping civil society initiatives with online collaboration, transparency, open data sharing, algorithms, and ethical AI. Brent and Rolf use the interview to discuss the International Aid Transparency Initiative and run through a list of questions for Humanitarian AI Today Live, the podcast’s new video channel. Rolf answers questions on the mapping of humanitarian AI initiatives, AI powered chatbots, how Signpost’s AI Lab aims to collaborate with humanitarian organizations, AI governance and how the humanitarian community should approach improving transparency and accountability around AI, AI learning goals, open data sharing in the AI age and other subjects of interest to staff from humanitarian organizations interested in humanitarian applications of artificial intelligence.

Payal Dalal, Executive Vice President of Global Programs at the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth (the Center), speaks with Aleks Berditchevskaia, Principal Researcher, Nesta Centre for Collective Intelligence Design, about the Center’s data science work and commitment to advancing sustainable economic growth. Payal and Aleks look at real-life applications of data science and AI to address real-world challenges and drive social impact, discuss ways to ensure emergent technologies such as AI are inclusive and equitable, and examine how a participatory AI framework involving diverse voices and data in the development of AI tools can mitigate bias and maximize the positive potential of these tools to close existing inequities. They also discussed the Center’s Artificial Intelligence to Accelerate Inclusion Challenge, a global call for AI solutions to accelerate inclusion and economic empowerment. In partnership with data.org, the Challenge is accepting submissions through July 18, 2024. Link to the application: https://data.org/initiatives/challenges/artificial-intelligence-to-accelerate-inclusion-challenge/ Aleks Berditchevskaia is the Principal Researcher working at Nesta's Centre for Collective Intelligence Design which creates new ways for communities to use technology to harness their ideas and insights, act on the problems that matter and create the futures they want. Their work on humanitarian AI is focused on collective crisis intelligence technologies. These are tools that combine localized collective intelligence from affected communities and frontline responders, and AI. Since 2021, they have pioneered participatory AI methodologies that bring affected communities and frontline responders into the designing, testing and oversight of AI systems. Their research is funded by a grant from the UK Humanitarian Innovation Hub (UKHIH). Keep an eye out for a forthcoming Humanitarian AI Today episode that will dive deeper into Aleks' work on participatory AI and the responsible deployment of humanitarian AI technologies.

Stefaan Verhulst and Andrew Schroeder speak with Brent Phillips, Humanitarian AI Today podcast producer, about Meta’s Lama Impact Grants program supporting applications of artificial intelligence for social good and a recent workshop that Meta organized for their 2024 Lama Impact Grant finalists. Stefaan, Andrew and Brent also discuss collective intelligence, large language models, data accessibility and making data AI ready, data collection and standardization initiatives geared for humanitarian actors, the impact of AI on humanitarian operations, localization, and how humanitarian actors can collaborate around advancing humanitarian AI. Dr. Stefaan G. Verhulst is an expert in using data and technology for social impact. He is the Co-Founder of several research organizations including the Governance Laboratory (GovLab) at New York University and The DataTank base in Brussels. He focuses on using advances in science and technology, including data and artificial intelligence,  to improve decision-making and problem-solving. He is also the Editor-in-Chief of the open-access journal Data & Policy and has served as a member of several expert groups on data and technology, including the High-Level Expert Group to the European Commission on Business-to-Government Data Sharing and the Expert Group to Eurostat on using Private Sector data for Official Statistics. Dr. Verhulst has been recognized as one of the 10 Most Influential Academics in Digital Government globally. He has published extensively on these topics, including several books, and has been invited to speak at international conferences, including TED and the UN World Data Forum. He is asked regularly to provide counsel on data stewardship to a variety of public and private organizations. Dr. Andrew Schroeder is the Vice President of Research and Analysis for Direct Relief. He leads Direct Relief’s work in data science, GIS, and humanitarian innovation. He has worked in a consulting and advisory capacity for the World Bank, United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and World Food Programme (WFP), as well as being a member of the health data experts committee for Meta (formerly Facebook). Dr. Schroeder is the co-founder, along with colleagues at Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health and Harvard Medical School, of CrisisReady, a research and response platform for translating private data into public good for disasters and health emergencies. He is also the co-founder and former Board President of the global nonprofit WeRobotics.org, which builds local capacity in robotics applications for humanitarian aid, development, and global health in nearly 40 countries around the world. Andrew earned his Ph.D. in Social and Cultural Analysis from New York University and his Masters of Public Policy (MPP) and certification in Science, Technology and Public Policy (STPP) from the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan.

Lindsey Moore, CEO and Founder of DevelopMetrics, speaks with Brent Phillips, Humanitarian AI Today podcast Producer, about DevelopMetrics’ work helping humanitarian organizations experiment with large language models. Lindsey and Brent discuss humanitarian applications of artificial intelligence, domain specificity, large language models, model training, testing and fine tuning, data structuring, data privacy and security, sandboxing, goal and objective setting, applicational development and deployment and other subjects relevant to humanitarian organizations interested in experimenting with generative AI.

Roberto Vila-Sexto, Country Director for Ukraine with the Norwegian Refugee Council, speaks with Jakob Harbo, Country Manager for Ukraine with the Danish Red Cross. Joined by Brent Phillips, Roberto and Jakob discuss their work and roles, the scale and severity of conditions in Ukraine this Winter, humanitarian needs and operations, risks and complications humanitarian actors face in Ukraine, attacks on humanitarian facilities and their views on humanitarian applications of artificial intelligence, including their views on real-world wartime humanitarian applications of AI and concerns. Closing the interview, Roberto and Jakob offer their thoughts on futuristic AI applications they would like to see developed.