There are some increasingly self-evident truths about AI use in the humanitarian sector: (1) the sector is yet to align on appropriate uses and limitations of AI tools, (2) individual and organisational use is frequently lacking in intention and (3) AI uptake is driven by resource limitations and broader patterns of humanitarian withdrawal. Less obvious, and much less well-known, is how AI tools are entering humanitarian spaces in the first place. What kind of procurement processes—if any— are governing humanitarian uptake of these tools? How are humanitarian dependencies on specific providers and particular technologies resulting in knowing and unknowing entrapment into AI tools?

Giulio Coppi, author of Access Now’s new report  “Buyer beware: how AI is infiltrating humanitarian aid operations” provides critical insights to these questions, offering an intricate picture of emerging AI-driven dynamics of risk, oversight and digital divides within the sector. Giulio will share key insights from the report including a more granular understanding of the different types of algorithmic systems in play, varying approaches to integration and the growing procurement workload introduced by AI tools.

Unscrutinised, humanitarians risk sliding into a form of AI tool use that could be difficult to reverse. In this discussion of such a timely report the Humanitarian AI+MERL Working Group has the opportunity to collectively reckon with how to develop a more deliberate approach to the tools at the heart of critical humanitarian work.

More on our speaker

Giulio Coppi is the Senior Humanitarian Officer at Access Now where he works on questions of digital rights in disaster and conflict settings, ethical approaches to technology design and deployment, and the protection and prevention of digital harm via humanitarian norms. His notable research portfolio includes work on satellite internet connectivity, private tech actors in the humanitarian space, and digital ceasefires. Giulio has extensive experience in the humanitarian and human rights space.

More on The Humanitarian AI Countdown

The Humanitarian AI Countdown is about getting high-level, well-researched analysis directly into the hands of humanitarian decision-makers. We believe it is vital for humanitarians to have access to these insights in a rapidly changing world. 

At each event, we will hear from a leading expert on their recent work and the specific implications of their findings for humanitarians. This new light-touch format is designed to help enable learning and knowledge building, improving the capacity of humanitarians to make informed decisions based on vanguard work and research.

Join the call

This session is taking place on April 30th [10am ET, 4pm CET, 5pm EAT]. Please register to join here.

And if you haven’t already, find out more about joining the NLP Community of Practice here.

Cover image by Matt Str via Unsplash.