Call for Papers: Workshop on AI Systems for the Public Interest at AoIR2023

Researchers from the Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society (HIIG) will host a workshop at the the AoIR 2023 (Association of Internet Researchers) Conference in Philadelphia, PA, USA. We look forward to your submission by 9 July, 2023.

Workshop: AI Systems for the Public Interest
18 October 2023
Co-located  with the AoIR 2023 (Association of Internet Researchers) Conference in Philadelphia, PA, USA
Theresa Züger & Hadi Asghari

Event page

Aim and Scope

The number of AI projects aiming to serve the common good or a public interest is increasing rapidly. But often the information on these projects, their initiators, funders, methods and objectives is not transparent, hindering the goal of serving the public. Many AI applications touch upon sensitive areas with public wellbeing at stake, such as public health, mobility, and justice systems. In this interdisciplinary workshop we will connect public interest theory to the debate about AI projects and foster exchange amongst existing projects that use AI to serve the public interest to explore common challenges, methods, and standards.  

This workshop introduces the concept of public interest AI and aims to bring together researchers and practitioners in this field. We wish to host a discussion on the criteria, necessary processes and societal conditions for AI systems to serve the public interest. We invite submissions on case studies as well as broader research on this topic, including issues around data collection, data sharing, who audits public interest driven systems, and other aspects of the AI lifecycle.

The motivation to use AI for a common good is claimed widely. Aside from the popularity of the claim, the qualities that stand for the common good or public interest of AI are rather fuzzy. From a research perspective the lack of empirical data to analyse what kind of criteria and which actors define AI in the public interest is problematic. 

We hope this workshop can contribute to an exchange of recent empirical and conceptual research findings on AI systems serving the public interest. We hope to spark an interdisciplinary discussion on public interest AI and the economic, organisational and technological conditions underpinning its success and sustainable impact. 

This workshop addresses AI methods from an interdisciplinary perspective bringing the goal of serving public interest to the forefront. We encourage submissions that report on work in progress, case studies, tools, or present a synthesis of empirical insights on AI in the public interest. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

• AI for public health and medicine
• AI for sustainability
• AI for mobility
• AI for accessibility
• AI for journalism 
• AI for equality & equitable AI
• AI and fairness, transparency, and accountability questions

Publication

Selected papers will be published as part of a special issue (details to follow).

If you have any questions, you can contact the conference organisers via piai_aoir2023@hiig.de. For more information, visit our Public Interest AI project page.

Important Dates

Deadline for Submission: July 9, 2023
Notification of Authors: August 15th 2023
Workshop: October 18, 2023 

Submission Details

• Extended abstracts (2 pages) and short papers (up to  9 ‘standard’ pages excl. references). The submission should  contain your research question(s), methodological approach, and possible findings;
• Contain author names, affiliations, and email addresses; and submitted in PDF  to piai_aoir2023@hiig.de
• All AoIR2023 attendees are welcome to attend this workshop, however, priority will be given to those who have submitted work. 

Workshop Organisers

• Dr. Theresa Züger (HIIG): zueger@hiig.de (primary contact person) 
• Dr. Hadi Asghari (HIIG): hadi.asghari@hiig.de