Centre for AI Futures

About

The Centre for AI Futures is a new initiative at the School of Law, Gender and Media at SOAS. It is unique globally in its exclusive focus on the implications of AI in countries of Africa, Asia and the Middle East. 

We are strengthened in our mission by the theoretical, methodological and practical expertise of our global partners, the Helsinki Institute for Social Sciences and Humanities at the University of Helsinki and industry expertise in data analysis and machine learning by Quilt.ai.

 

Launch event

Three pillars

The centre’s interdisciplinary and collaborative activities rest on three pillars:

  • The Cultural Effects of AI: New research initiatives focused on the variegated impacts of AI in the Global South and the theoretical and philosophical questions raised by such.
  • Methodological Innovations: Data-driven methodologies to facilitate research and interventions into policy and legal debates and also to work with and within the AI industry for purpose-driven applications.
  • Practice based Research: Working towards a critical framework to understand and study AI practitioners and their milieu and how this impacts output.