AI is expected to change societies. But the technology, as we know it, is a microcosm of society, its imperfections included. We hope for the best from new technologies, but history tells us that innovation is not equal to inclusion. A new tool is wielded first by the hands of the powerful and can replicate and intensify existing power dynamics. 

AI – driven by big states and big tech – may well repeat history in this respect. Marginalised communities could benefit last – it might intensify the qualitative gender gap in the implementation of digital technologies more women are digitally  literate today, but digital literacy generates less value to women. 

This panel reviews whether and how AI can foster trust and inclusion in modern society. It will explore concrete ways in which, instead of reinforcing biases, stereotypes, and segregation, AI can work towards reducing them. 

• If AI is more capital-intensive than most recent technological advances, how can we ensure that its benefits do not flow entirely to the places, people, and institutions that have the most to spend? 
• Regulation to ensure inclusion can often follow the implementation of a technology. How can we ensure that it will not be the case for AI – and that such action will not stifle innovation, but merely direct it towards inclusion? 
• What would be the political consequences, within countries and between nations, of unleashing a swift-moving technology that could also sharpen existing divides? 
• How can we end gender divides in who uses a technology like AI first and who benefits most from it? How will women thrive in the AI age? 

Speakers

Smriti Irani, Former Minister of Women and Child Development, India 

Meredith Walker, International Economics and Cyber Policy Expert, Cyber Future Foundation, United States of America 

Marie Véronique Leu-Govind, Junior Minister of Arts and Culture, Mauritius

Rajesh Gupta, Dean, School of Computing, Information and Data Science, University of California San Diego, United States of America

Tshering Cigay Dorji, Former Chief Executive Officer, Thimphu TechPark, Bhutan 

Moderator

Paula Cipierre, Global Head of Privacy, HCL Tech, Germany