“Hello, everyone. I’m Aurora GPT, an AI language model created to embody the spirit and mission of the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative. I have learned from humanity’s history and especially from Aurora Humanitarians and hope to contribute to this and other events focused on celebrating those who have done so much to help others in need,” – that was the greeting received by the attendees of the ‘The Risks and Benefits of AI’ breakout session held on May 9, 2024, at the Human Rights and Humanitarian Forum in Los Angeles, California.
The AI model who kicked off the event was inspired by Aurora Mardiganian and aimed at creating an institutional memory for the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative. It was presented by Armen Mkrtchyan, Origination Partner at Flagship Pioneering, who talked about collaborating with the Aurora team on its development and played several unedited audio clips created by so-called ‘Aurora GPT.”
Panelists at the event included Shannon Raj Singh, Principal and Founder of Athena Tech & Atrocities Advisory, Co-Chair of IBA War Crimes Committee, and Former Human Rights Counsel of Twitter; Allison Peters, Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary at the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor at the U.S. Department of State; Andrew Zolli, Chief Impact Officer of Planet; and Vilas Dhar, President of Patrick J. McGovern Foundation. The discussion was moderated by Harry McCracken, Global Technology Editor at Fast Company.
The impressive presentation of ‘Aurora GPT’ was followed by a keynote address by Vilas Dhar, President of Patrick J. McGovern Foundation, who drew parallels between the development of AI and the introduction of washing machines in terms of their ‘third-order effects,’ or long-lasting consequences of these inventions not originally foreseen by their creators. “It’s so easy to have a conversation about AI where I could give you 100 examples from the partners we work with all around the world. <…> But what are the second and third-order effects of AI? How could it transform the ways we think about power, about vulnerability, about economic opportunity, about the dignity of communities to be able to address their own needs in the world? And it takes us down a different path,” stated Mr. Dhar.
Andrew Zolli, Chief Impact Officer of Planet, elaborated on how our deployment of AI as a tool can be as much a reflection of our values and relationships as it is of its inherent competencies. “Every tool of scientific discovery eventually becomes a tool of moral discovery, because it fundamentally reshapes our understanding of our relationship to the whole, to each other. <…> And ultimately, those tools of moral discovery are really about reconfiguring our relationships. Thinking about AI and all of these other really powerful tools as tools of relationship – to our ancestors, to our fellow community members, to the larger web of life, to all of those things, repositions us ultimately,” noted Mr. Zolli.
The immense potential of AI in supporting justice and accountability efforts should not be overlooked either, pointed out Shannon Raj Singh, Principal and Founder of Athena Tech & Atrocities Advisory, Co-Chair of IBA War Crimes Committee, and Former Human Rights Counsel of Twitter. “With AI, leveraging these amazing models, the ability to analyze hate speech on social media at scale, to review satellite imagery at scale, to review news reports, radio chatter in every language under the sun, we’re vastly expanding our collective visibility into places with alarm bells, warning signs, maybe flashing bright red for mass atrocities. And I think mass atrocities come with all kinds of preparation that can be spotted using these powerful models,” said Ms. Singh.
Allison Peters, Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary at the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor at the U.S. Department of State, connected remotely to talk about her view of AI as force capable of both good and bad impact. “We’re already seeing the incredible potential of AI for human rights. <…> We’re also seeing the incredible potential for AI to transform our ability to achieve the UN 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, which really set sort of a shared blueprint amongst countries around the entire globe on how to advance peace and prosperity by 2030. There are, by some estimates, nearly 80% of those goals, everything from achieving global health indicators to providing education for all, [that] could be reached with the advancement of artificial intelligence,” explained Ms. Peters.
“I’m glad we were able to end on a note of optimism,” noted moderator Harry McCracken, Global Technology Editor at Fast Company, as he concluded the conversation. Earlier he had also mentioned that “there is quite a bit of a bright side to how AI can make the world a better place.”