Community Building – D&I in AI

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The inaugural symposium on Diversity and Inclusion in AI unfolded on 16th October 2023, organized by CSIRO’s Data61 team led by Prof Didar Zowghi and Muneera Bano. The aim was to provide a platform for the sharing of ideas and establish a network for future collaborations.

D&I in AI symposium - 16 October 2023

The symposium commenced with the Acknowledgement of the Country by Muneera Bano. Following the results from the referendum, the reflections were a call for the D&I community, reminding them that our work is more crucial now than ever. There is an imperative to draw inspiration from the profound connectedness our First Nations people have always had with nature and we can expand our perception of “intelligence” from not just logical reasoning, but also to include empathy, ethics, kindness, respect, and sustainability.

The event was opened by an inspiring welcome from Stela SOLAR Director of the National AI Centre. Didar provided an introduction to the symposium, the aims of D&I in the AI team, presenting context & definitions, seminal research, established guidelines, and milestones in industrial engagements achieved over a year.

  • “Empowering Communities with AI,” the first session, saw Cathy Robinson championing the indispensability of data justice and trust in AI’s lifecycle, & Xin Yu showcased the research on AI through Auslan learning initiatives. Fatemeh Jafarali presented fairness in AI-integrated interviews for marginalized demographics, & Rifat Ara Shams presented evidence-based research on D&I challenges and solutions in AI scenarios.
  • In the second session “Gender Bias in AI”, Mallory Avery provided an analysis of gender diversity within tech recruitment. This theme was elaborated through explorations of gender bias in AI by other speakers Ayesha Nadeem, Aastha Pant, and J. Rosenbaum.
  • The third session navigated through the “Ethical Frontiers in AI Eco-System.” From Lorenn Ruster and Chris Felstead’s case study on the Dignity Lens’s applicability in Robodebt situations to Annika Kaabel ‘s talk about the intricacies of intersectionality in AI-based recruitment. Francesca da Rimini‘s dive into algorithmic art and Fernando Mourão‘s discourse on experience-augmented AI. Nathan Kinch presented their research on ‘participatory ethics’ as a catalyst for D&I in AI, while Dr. Amna Batool outlined a proposal for a framework for AI Governance.
  • The final session, “Diversity and Inclusion in the Age of Generative AI,” convened Sarah Vivienne Bentley to demystify the social dynamics between humans and AI, Ahmet Baki Kocaballi’s inclusive methodologies in AI chatbot designs & approaches to Generative AI Model Evaluation by Bec Johnson. Lorenn Ruster spoke about startups aligning generative AI with intrinsic values, Jade Barclay delved into the nexus between D&I and lived experiences in health AI, & Andrew Hine provided overviews of online personas.

The symposium concluded on the notes of agreed aims for further collaborations & commitment to embed the principles of ethics and D&I in our research & future ideas.

Website: https://sites.google.com/view/di-in-ai-symposium23/home

We’re pleased to have organized the first Topical Collection (Special Issue) on “Diversity and Inclusion in Artificial Intelligence,” guest-edited by Prof Didar Zowghi and Muneera Bano from CSIRO’s Data61. The collection, which aimed to spotlight the crucial role of Diversity and Inclusion in AI, has now closed for submissions (deadline was 11th December 2023). We would like to thank all contributors for their insightful submissions. The accepted papers will be available on the Springer site soon.

The Topical Collection was our attempt to foster a multifaceted exploration of D&I in AI. Recognizing the depth and breadth of this domain, we actively encouraged submissions that utilise a diverse range of research methodologies. The topics of interest include (but are not limited to):

  • 🧑‍🤝‍🧑 HUMAN-centred approaches to AI design and deployment.
  • 📊 The role and impact of diverse DATAsets in preventing and countering AI biases.
  • 🤝 Strategies to ensure diverse representation and inclusivity throughout AI PROCESSES.
  • 🔍 Mechanisms to evaluate and maintain diversity and inclusion standards in AI SYSTEMS.
  • 🏛️ GOVERNANCE models and frameworks that prioritize diversity and inclusion in AI.
  • 🚀 Challenges and solutions associated with promoting diversity and inclusion in AI, especially considering ethical, regulatory, and policy implications.

Editorial on Topical Collection: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s43681-024-00485-8

Topical Collection link: https://link.springer.com/collections/dehhddfedc

Read more: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/muneera-bano-71b27aa_ai-for-all-diversity-and-inclusion-in-ai-activity-7192773491698421760-E3MK

Muneera Bano

  • STEM Sisters panel discussion ‘Women Like Me’ on 27th June 2023 at ACS office Melbourne. EVENT DETAILS.
  • Featured by CSIRO in the article ‘Forget Barbie: Meet CSIRO’s real-life STEM role models’ (18 July 2023). EVENT DETAILS.
  • 6 Degree Media, panel talk on ‘Ethics and AI’ (27th July 2023). EVENT DETAILS.
  • ‘Dive In Festival’ by AXA XL and Lockton, ‘AI for All, The Quest for Diversity and Inclusion in AI’ (27th September 2023). EVENT DETAILS.
  • ‘Royal Society of Victoria’, ‘Reimagining Humanity in The Age of Generative AI’ (19 October 2023). EVENT DETAILS.
  • ‘Lean In Melbourne’, Roundtable discussion on ‘Artificial Intelligence for Inclusive Futures’ (20th October 2023). EVENT DETAILS.
  • Monash Data Future: Workshop on ‘AI governance and standards: comparative approaches’ (15 November 2023). EVENT DETAILS.
  • Nominated as a finalist for Women in Tech APAC awards – Most Disruptive Women powered by AWS. AWARD DETAILS.
  • Keynote Speaker at Conference on Artificial Intelligence (CAI), NUML Pakistan. https://numl.edu.pk/cai/
  • Invited as a delegate to Government House Victoria and meeting with Governor Victoria Margaret Gardner representing Women in Leadership (8 February 2024) – EVENT DETAILS.
  • Panel Speaker at IWD event on “Insights Lunch Series – Understanding Gendered Experiences of Engineering” organized by  BAE systems (5th March 2024).
  • Panel member – Women in STEMM Symposium 13-14 March 2024 “Representation Matters: Building a More Diverse and Inclusive Culture for Future STEMM Leaders” organized by Women Leadership Institute – EVENT DETAILS.
  • Panel Speaker – “Conversation Café on Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI)” at International Conference on Software Engineering (ICSE) 2024 – Lisbon Portugal. EVENT PAGE. TALK SUMMARY. 
  • Hosting delegate of Singapore and presenting D&I in AI Research on 24 April 2024 – SEE DETAILS.
  • Leading Data61-Google event on 1st May 2024 in Google office Sydney as DIB officer – SEE DETAILS.
  • Hosting delegate of Bank Rakyat on 7th May 2024 and presenting D&I in AI Research – SEE DETAILS.
  • Conducting Workshop for Women in Engineering and IT- UTS on 8th May 2024 on ‘Empower Yourself: Create your Personal Brand’
  • Panel Speaker, “Why Diversity and Inclusion is Integral to AI?” on 14th May 2024, organised by Australian Computer Society and STEM Sisters. EVENT DETAILS. EVENT PAGE.
  • Speaker, “Diversity and Inclusion in AI for HR” on 5th June 2024, organised by Australian HR Institute. EVENT DETAILS. EVENT PAGE.

Rifat Ara Shams

  • Invited talk on “Diversity and Inclusion in AI” in the Special Session on “Breaking the Barrier: Diverse ICT Research and Future Opportunities in Industry and Academia” in the 10th International Conference on Networking, Systems and Security, arranged by Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, 21 December 2023. 
  • Invited talk on “AI and The Quest for Diversity and Inclusion” at the Webinar on “Advanced Materials in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning” as a part of Advanced Materials Cross-Cutting Capabilities Webinar Series arranged by CSIRO’s Mineral Resources, 21 November 2023. 
  • Presented in the Symposium of Diversity and Inclusion in AI arranged by Data61’s AI Diversity and Inclusion team, Sydney, 15 October 2023. Presentation title: “AI and the Quest for Diversity and Inclusion”. 
  • Presented the paper titled “Human Value Requirements in AI Systems: Empirical Analysis of Amazon Alexa” in the Workshop of Empirical Requirements Engineering (EmpiRE), co-located with the Requirements Engineering Conference (RE’23), 05 September 2023. 
  • Invited talk on “Human Values in Software Engineering: Should AI Systems Get More Attention?” at HumaniSE Presentation Series, Monash University, 25 July 2023. 
  • Presented in ChatLLM Workshop arranged by the University of Sydney, Sydney, 28 April 2023. Presentation title: “Diversity and Inclusion in AI: A Concerted Effort to Explore the Challenges and Solutions”. 

Our team has made significant contributions to key conferences and journals. Zowghi is on the PC of REFSQ 2024, RE23 and RE24, chaired ICSE23’s doctoral symposium, and is an Associate Editor of IEEE Software and RE journal.

Bano chaired the ICSE’23 ACM Student Research Competition Track, and RE’23 Doctoral Symposium, and co-organizing CrowDRE’23. Bano also reviewed for ICSE 2024, and IEEE Software, and is a Guest Editor for 2 special issues of IEEE Software.

Shams, involved in ICSSP23 and ICSE23, has served on both the organizing and program committees for ICSE23’s Student Research Track and reviews for the Journal of IST and JSS.

AI for All: Diversity and Inclusion in Artificial Intelligence – Muneera Bano and Didar Zowghi at the National AI Center’s Webinar Series 

Reimagining the Humanity in the Age of Generative AI – Muneera Bano at Royal Society of Victoria

AI in Media – Didar Zowghi at ABC’s Futurecast 2023 Digital Conference

Introduction to Responsible AI Engineering – Muneera Bano at the National AI Center’s Webinar Series 

Artificial Intelligence or Artificial Stupidity – Muneera Bano at Royal Society of Victoria

Contact Person

Dr. Muneera Bano

Senior Research Scientist, Team Co-Lead - AI Diversity and Inclusion

Main Page – AI Diversity and Inclusion