What Does Artificial Intelligence Mean for Digital Equity?

Wherever you’re at in your AI journey, it’s time for a digital inclusion community discussion. What we know for sure is that AI will cause another digital divide, or further exacerbate the one we already have. To jump-start the discussion, I have some overarching thoughts about AI and digital inclusion: 

1. Digital Skills Training Programs Are Essential for People to Safely and Confidently Use AI: Teaching how to use AI tools and how to be safe around AI is a natural addition for digital inclusion skills programs. Just as digital inclusion instructors teach community members how to be safe by identifying bogus websites and phishing, they’ll also have an essential role in teaching others how to verify content provided by a generative AI tool.
2. Grassroots Based Advocacy Supports Responsible, Meaningful Regulation: Digital inclusion practitioners are experts who should be guiding tech equity policy impacting their communities. They can represent community voices by advocating for local AI use that will benefit their communities, with special attention on avoiding potential bias and harm from AI tools.
3. Successful Digital Navigation Services Are Built on Trust: AI tools are already being created to support digital navigators. Future digital navigation AI tools will need to be developed carefully to guide human digital navigators ethically and accurately. All of that is dependent on deep involvement from community digital inclusion practitioners and digital navigators – the experts on community needs. These humans – experts from the digital inclusion community – need to be part of the whole process, from development, to equity and inclusion testing, to feedback loops for continuous improvement, and onto user support.