Alliance for Africa's Intelligence Future-Makers

• In Event: Artificial Intelligence and Equity: Perspectives on Supporting Black Youth to Thrive in the Digital World

Abstract

Objectives
This evaluative case study analyzes digital conversations among participants in a global AI leadership program for Black youth. AI is leveraging data to automate the genocide being committed against Black people (Nkonde, 2019; Guillory, 2020). AI hiring tools don’t select Black applicants. AI police tools wrongly convict Black people. Precision medicine tools don’t work effectively on Black people (Chen et al., 2020). As the use of AI increases, changing the leadership in AI companies becomes more critical. This presentation responds to the questions: 1) How do participants describe barriers to participation in AI leadership efforts within their countries? 2) How do participants describe their learning after engagement in a global AI leadership program created for Black youth?

Theoretical Perspectives
The integration of African and Black youth into tech spaces at the nexus of disruptive technology and policy is crucial for increasing equity within AI technologies. AI regulatory spaces do not include Black decision-makers or understand challenges of Black people, thus AI exacerbates biases that oppress Black people (Dixon-Roman, 2016).

Methods and Data Sources
This paper provides a case study (Yin, 2012) a program focusing on bringing more Black people into top tech influential spaces to increase resistance against tech-automated racism. Data for this case study of the first year of operation of Alliance4ai includes: 1) digital discussions by 140 college students from four countries in Africa - Ghana, Tunisia, Kenya, and Rwanda; 2) survey responses from AI experts who mentored the students and provided input for African governments on policy for the fourth industrial revolution; 3) conversation outcomes captured through an online progress tracker and lesson posts on Twitter, which served as a mode of evaluation and dissemination.

Findings
After three months of engagement, youth participants demonstrate: 1) knowledge of what AI does and the belief that they can play a role in AI leadership, 2) an understanding of how work is evolving in the future, 3) a boosted professional profile, and 4) an international network of people to build out their skills collaboratively. Discussions indicate that youth benefited from learning about historical social context, technology development, and clear details regarding paths to access to and participation in AI technologies. Furthermore, data indicated that the Growth Discussion Case Method in this program allows for learning from the mentor and from other youth.

Significance
As pressure increases to diversify technology corporations and educators recognize that educational systems are not built to support Black youth success in STEM fields (McGee, 2020), programs such as Alliance4ai may offer ways to support Black youth inclusion in AI leadership. Within supplemental programs such as Alliance4ai, the use of the Growth Discussion Case Method may fill gaps for youth who pass through formal education systems in Black societies, as the method focuses on transcending teacher shortages and physical school infrastructure barriers to holistic education. Key facets of this program include practices long acknowledged as important in Black education: Community building, understandings of real barriers to success, and knowledge as performance (Johnson, 2003; Woodson, 2006).

Author

• Alexander Tsado, Ahura AI