The project is a Dutch collaboration that aims to critique the existing problematic norms and provide tangible resources for practicing DEI when developing embodied AI by nurturing a DEI network among academics and societal partners.
The project team consists of a research collective coming from various disciplines, cultures, and gender identities working in the development, evaluation, and policy geared towards more diverse and inclusive embodied AI. They believe inequity starts in the ideation process and continues at all levels of the development and deployment. The societal structures of privilege and power around the development of embodied AI play an overt and covert role in the development process which extends to the everyday use of the technology by people with striking effects.
Designers, researchers, and stakeholders, all, have the responsibility to reflect on the values, perspectives, biases, and stereotypes they embed in embodied AI technology. There is the need to inspect narratives, practices, and methods with reflexivity and openness to shift mindsets.
As academics they want to take action and engage in a meaningful conversation with the embodied AI community at large: listening and co-creating in a spirit of reflexivity.
A series of online or hybrid workshops (depending on Covid-19 measures) are being organized to raise awareness, assess practices and the future of our ways of working.
The first workshop DEI4EAI and Gender took place on 15/9/2021. Other workshops to be organized in 2021 are:
- DEI4EAI and Ableism 20/10/21 during the Dutch Design Week
- DEI4EAI and Race 5/11/2021 during the 4TU Winter School
- DEI4EAI and Design Methods 19/11/21
- DEI4EAI Final Event December 2021 TBA
The project supports also the following events:
- What is diversity in the context of big tech? with Cameron Lee Taylor is a UX researcher at Google -TU/e 7/10/21
- Diversity in the context of Dutch universities TU/e – 7/10/21
The consortium actively collaborates with the initiative of the University of Leiden Gendering algorithms.
For more information and registration please take a look at the DEI4EAI website: https://www.dei4eai.com/
- Dr. ir. Cristina Zaga, assistant professor at the University of Twente (EEMCS/ET Faculty)
- Dr. Nazli Cila, assistant professor at the Delft University of Technology (IDE Faculty)
- Dr. Maria Luce Lupetti, assistant professor at Delft University of Technology (IDE Faculty)
- Dr. Minha Lee, assistant professor at the Technical University of Eindhoven (Future Everyday Group)
- Dr. Gijs Huisman, assistant professor at the Delft University of Technology (IDE Faculty)
- Dr. Eduard Fosch Villaronga, assistant professor at Leiden University (School of Law)