Building AI With, Not For
Listen wider. Build better.
How can we ensure AI is shaped by a broad range of voices, rather than a select few?
At our June Ethical Intelligence Network meet-up, we explored what collaboration in AI governance really looks like with Jeff Campbell, founder of the World Equitable & Responsible AI Forum (WERAI).
The conversation made one thing clear: building AI that is ethical, transparent, inclusive, and accountable doesn’t happen through isolated “best practices”. It happens when researchers, policymakers, practitioners, and impacted communities are brought into the same room (and kept there long enough to do the hard work together).
Insights from the discussion
1) Equity requires coordinated, collective effort
The momentum around “responsible AI” is growing, but progress depends on teams and coalitions working in a coordinated way, not individual actors moving in parallel. Jeff shared how WERAI aims to be a conduit and amplifier for groups pushing AI development toward equity and inclusion, helping connect efforts that are currently fragmented.
2) Keep impacted communities at the center (always)
We can’t talk about responsible AI without staying grounded in who is harmed, often in ways that are easy to ignore if you’re far from the impact. The group reflected on examples like underpaid and mistreated workers in Kenya, or residents in Georgia facing wells running dry—reminders that AI’s costs are not evenly distributed, and governance must account for that reality.
3) Bring a “beginner’s mind” to complex problems
Many of the thorniest governance questions won’t be solved by default frameworks or familiar playbooks. A recurring theme was the importance of a beginner’s mindset, approaching challenges with humility, curiosity, and a willingness to rethink assumptions in order to create genuinely new solutions.
4) Cross-sector collaboration needs nurturing
AI is increasingly bringing together groups that don’t typically work side-by-side, industry, civil society, government, academia, community representatives. But collaboration isn’t automatic. It needs care, structure, and long-term investment to turn “having stakeholders present” into shared understanding, shared accountability, and meaningful outcomes.
July Virtual Meet-up:
Human-Centred AI for a Democratic Revolution
As digital technologies play an increasingly important role in democratic participation, ensuring they are designed to empower people, build trust and support inclusive decision-making is more important than ever. This session explores the principles of human-centred AI for democracy and how technology can be developed to strengthen deliberative processes.
The session will be led by Isabella Roberts, founder of SAAFE and PhD Candidate at the University of Southampton. She will introduce SAAFE, a set of human-centred principles for the design and implementation of deliberative technologies (delib-tech), developed through a global incubator bringing together democratic practitioners and technology developers to help shape more inclusive and effective democratic innovation.