Cross-Cultural Approaches to Desirable AI 2nd Edition

Following the success and strong interest in last year’s events, the online seminar series “Cross-Cultural Approaches to Desirable AI” continues this year. The series aims to encourage intercultural and interdisciplinary discussion on the ethics of artificial intelligence (AI). Its primary focus is to support and develop research on AI and social justice, particularly from intersectional feminist and anti-racist perspectives. “Cross-Cultural Approaches to Desirable AI” is a collaboration between the Universities of Cambridge, Bonn, and Tokyo, and the University of Europe for Applied Sciences.

We bring together researchers working on AI and digital technologies of all career stages from a variety of disciplines. The series seeks to bridge perspectives from the arts and sciences, with a particular emphasis on encouraging students with technical and engineering backgrounds to engage with ethical issues surrounding AI.

The concept of “desirable AI” refers to the development of technology that places social justice and environmental sustainability at its core. Rather than simply optimizing technology, the goal is to design AI that reflects and respects the diverse values and needs of different cultures. This approach requires acknowledging different worldviews while avoiding issues such as cultural appropriation and “diversity washing” in technology development.

This year, we continue our exploration of cross-cultural and ethical perspectives on AI with new themes and areas of inquiry. Rather than centering sessions on geographical regions, we focus on cross-cultural dialogue around shared thematic questions. To do so, we bring together experts from across different communities and disciplines. Among the topics we will highlight are: Spiritual traditions and AI ethics beyond the individual, bringing Buddhist and Ubuntu principles into dialogue with questions of technology and humanity, and Contextualised perspectives on large language models, examining bias, erasure, and situated methods across languages and regions.

By extending these conversations, the series continues to foster a pluralistic and inclusive vision of AI — one that remains deeply attentive to cultural context, social justice, and the shared pursuit of desirable futures.

Dates and Registration
The seminar series will be held on Thursdays via Zoom at 10:00 UK / 11:00 GER / 19:00 JP*, starting on October 22nd (Wed.). Each session will last 120 minutes.

*Please note that due to daylight saving hours, the intro session on October 22 will start at 10:00 UK / 11:00 GER / 18:00 JP.

If you would like to attend any of the sessions, please register for our email list where we will share Zoom links and information on upcoming sessions.