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The first quarter of the year has officially come to a close. In this issue, we feature two important pieces from Research ICT Africa’s researchers: Hanani Hlomani, Mark Gaffley, Liz Orembo, Theresa Schültken, and Scott Timcke on ‘Dissent & Resistance to Silicon Valley AI Narratives’ (Tech Policy Press), and an article by Hanani Hlomani and Andrew Rens on ‘Artificial intelligence, copyright infringement, and protection – a legal quagmire?’ (Daily Maverick).
We also highlight some opportunities on AI from our network.
The deadline to apply the META travel bursaries to the AfricAI Conference being held in Kigali in June is fast approaching. Read more below on how to apply.
Finally, in this issue, we spotlight our current read, an exciting report by Rutendo Chabikwa from the Oxford Internet Institute, “AI, Gender, & Development in Africa: Feminist Policy Considerations.”
Happy reading!
The African Observatory on Responsible AI Team
FROM THE RESEARCH DIRECTORY
Dissent and Resistance to Silicon Valley AI Narratives
This article emphasizes the need for AI research that uncovers ways of resisting dominant AI narratives across the entire AI lifecycle. It suggests that pairing feminist resistance theories with the concepts of slow violence and legalized lawlessness can highlight where evidence of dissent and resistance can be found in AI. Dive deeper into this intriguing article by Hanani Hlomani, Mark Gaffley, Liz Orembo, Theresa Schültken and Scott Timcke from Research ICT Africa here.
Artificial Intelligence, copyright infringement, and protection – a legal quagmire?
The rise of AI tools such as ChatGPT raises new and complex legal questions about copyright and threatens to render copyright laws outdated. Should outputs from AI models be protected by copyright? Do AI models infringe on human authors’ copyright when the model’s outputs are based on the creative productions of human authors? And can these outputs be considered creative for legal purposes? The ongoing debate by the South African Parliament on the copyright amendment bill introduced in 2017 provides an opportunity to clarify that copyright applies only to human creativity. Read more on this by Hanani Hlomani and Andrew Rens from Research ICT Africa here.
NETWORKING, SOCIAL & OPPORTUNITIES
Application Deadline for the META Bursaries to Support Emerging Researchers at the AI4D Africa Conference 2023 in Kigali, Rwanda (12-14 June 2023)
We want to remind emerging African researchers that the deadline to apply for travel bursaries to the AfricAI Conference made available by Meta is fast approaching. If you are working on AI ethics/human rights and policy/governance in African research then click here for details on how to apply before 7th April, 2023.
Research Associate to Droned Life: Data, Narrative, and the Aesthetics of Worldmaking
The Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence at the University of Cambridge has an open opportunity to join a multi-year interdisciplinary project on unmanned technologies, culture, and aesthetics funded by UKRI. 'Droned Life: Data, Narrative, and the Aesthetics of Worldmaking' invites applications for a postdoctoral research associate to join a research team investigating the politics and ethics of drone proliferation in fields such as war, art, humanitarianism, and ecology. Click here for details on how to apply.
Research Associate and Senior Research Associate positions at the Minderro Centre for Technology and Democracy.
The Minderoo Centre for Technology and Democracy invites applications for; a senior research associate position to pursue high-quality research at the intersection of digital issues in humanitarian action, and a research associate position to support Cambridge’s leadership role in policy and human-centred AI research to build a platform to combat mis- and disinformation. Click here for details on how to apply for these positions.
Consultancy for the Policy Network on Artificial Intelligence (PNAI)
IGF Secretariat is hiring a consultant to support the IGF 2023 intersessional Policy Network on Artificial Intelligence (PNAI). The Consultant will be responsible for carrying out tasks related to hosting and reporting on IGF PNAI meetings, synthesis, drafting of outputs, presenting and discussing them during dedicated sessions at the 18th Annual Meeting of the Internet Governance Forum. Find more information about this position and how to apply here.
What are we reading?
Our current read this month is a report by the Oxford Internet Institute’s Research Programme on AI, Government, and Policy authored by Rutendo Chabikwa. Given the underrepresentation of women and gender minorities in AI spaces, the report evaluates the consideration of gender in African AI policies. The report titled AI, Gender, & Development in Africa: Feminist Policy Considerations, then analyses the protocols, model laws, strategies and declarations from these bodies related to development, technology, and gender. You can read the report here.
Our Social Media Handles
We have created our social media handles and you can now follow us on our Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn accounts to stay up to date with our latest publications, events and news.
Have Something to Share?
This year we plan to send out mailers to our network on a more frequent basis. Please do get in contact with us via email should you have any ideas for collaboration with us, or if you have any blog posts you would like us to promote through our platform. We are also interested in any events, opportunities, research or research projects you would like for us to share within our growing African Network on Responsible AI.
