AI and the rise of the movement for data justice
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Open Access Location
Authors
Ballantyne, N.
Keywords
AI
Description of form
Oral Presentation.
Publisher
Rights
Rights holder
Issue Date
2024-11
Peer-reviewed status
Type
Conference paper
Abstract
Oral presentation
Many governmental actors are currently enthusiastic about the potential application of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and data-driven systems as necessary social changes to transform, modernise, and make more efficient a range of public services, including social work services. This kind of sociotechnical
imaginary is not new. It is simply the latest wave, layered on top of previous enthusiasms for earlier technological artifacts. From the 1970s, the possible role of computer automation in social work services began to be imagined. By the 1980s, microcomputers began appearing inside social service agencies as
humble case recording and information management systems until the Internet arrived to unleash email, the web and social media. Today, social service agencies worldwide are experimenting with algorithms,
machine learning and AI to predict risk, target resources, surveil users and detect fraud. With the recent emergence of Generative AI – such as ChatGPT – interest in AI has accelerated, and governmental actors seem intent on harnessing it to enhance health outcomes, improve education and even tackle poverty. And yet, at the same time, research evidence is mounting that AI and data-driven systems are causing immense social harm to historically marginalised social groups. Drawing on a review of the literature this
presentation will discuss the rise, not of the robots, but of the resistance to the uncritical application of AI. It will explain the concept of data justice, data activism and the rise of the data justice movement in its many forms, from academic research units to civil society organisations to grassroots community
activists.
Citation
Ballantyne, N. (2024, November 19-20). AI and the rise of the movement for data justice[Paper presentation]. ANZSWWER 2024 Symposium, Dunedin, Aotearoa New Zealand.