The B’AI Global Forum searches for effective ways to realize our social goal of creating a gender-equal society and guaranteeing minority rights in the era where AI pervades every aspect of our lives.
Today’s world faces serious challenges, with ever-continuing economic gap and discrimination based on race, ethnicity, and gender. In particular, as the forms of communication mediated by digital technologies have become increasingly conspicuous in all realms of society including politics, economy and culture, especially since the spread of COVID-19 in 2020, the economic gap and discriminations are said to be worsening throughout the world.
In order to confront such social challenges, our project questions the fundamental values of modernity that have prioritized the progress of science and technology, and also promotes the intellectual endeavor to understand the formation of the contemporary social institutions and organizational structure.
We plan to do this by collaborating with researchers, practitioners, journalists and other citizens to identify current problems and seek and propose solutions so that the latest technology such as AI may enrich every human life.

We decided to title our project the “B’AI Global Forum.” The “B’” represents our intention to pay attention to the history of discourse and representation before AI, various competing interests behind the development of AI, and the structure beneath AI. In other words, the name of our project shows our goal of conducting a multi-perspective analysis on the history and social structure that produced and enabled modern technologies such as AI.

The B’AI Global Forum consists of four themes.

[1] Analyze discrimination and violence against women and minorities by the digital information technologies, including AI

[2] Design a diverse and inclusive mediascape by the digital information technologies, including AI

[3] Create an interdisciplinary global forum where young researchers, entrepreneurs, practitioners, and other citizens come together to discuss issues related to AI and society

[4] Reconceptualizing ethics for digital information age and practice inclusive education based on those ethics

Specifically, the B’AI Global Forum focuses on two goals: 

[1] Critically and self-reflexively examining the relationship between society and digital information technologies including AI 
[2] Realizing fair and just discourse in the public sphere

By creating a “global forum” that focuses on the AI society, this project will provide spaces for fair and just expressions and speech essential for human diversity, freedom, equality, and symbiosis, and pursue coexistence of the AI society and democracy.

The B'AI Global Forum has focused on women and minorities who are likely to be oppressed by AI technologies and has explored from various perspectives how to better achieve a gender-equal society and guarantee of minority rights in the AI society.

(1) Understanding discrimination and violence against women and minorities by AI and other digital information technologies

First, through joint research and reading sessions, we have examined the exclusionary effects of AI technology on women and minorities. For example, in collaboration with the Hiromi Yokoyama Laboratory of the Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics at the University of Tokyo, we have conducted a "Four-Country Survey on the Attitudes Toward AI Use," which we are currently compiling into a paper. This will examine how equality attitudes toward gender, disability, sexual orientation, and immigration, as well as AI knowledge levels, relate to ELSI attitudes toward AI use among citizens of Japan, the United States, Germany, and South Korea. We have also held regular roundtable discussions to explore the social applications of AI and other digital information technologies, and co-organized a lecture on minority discrimination in the metaverse with the Leisure Studies Research Group. In addition, our members have been active in providing information to clarify discriminatory structures that may arise from AI. For example, the activities of a group of graduate student members resulted in a public exhibition, "PERCEPTIONS: Reconstructing AI Narratives," which highlighted visitors' perceptions of AI.

(2) Designing Diverse and Inclusive Media Expression Spaces with AI and Other Digital Information Technologies

We have been working on the subprojects to examine diversity and inclusivity, particularly in media spaces. First, MeDi (Association for Fundamental Consideration of Media and Diversity) has conducted workshops for reporters, directors, and editors working in the media to discuss issues of gender expression in news coverage of various topics and how to improve it. We have also published a book, Iine botan wo osumaeni [Before Pressing the 'Like' Button] (2023), held events to celebrate its publication. Later in November 2023, MeDi shed light on the state of gender inequality in Japanese media in a major symposium by reflecting on its activities over the past six years. Other symposiums have examined the ethics of trauma reporting through reading sessions with reporters and others working in the field in the Trauma Reporting Study Group, chaired by Michiko Kawahara.

(3) Creating a global forum for collaboration between the humanities and sciences, industry, government, academia, and the private sector on AI, led by early-career researchers.

We have worked to create a broad network of research and practice across national boundaries, with a focus on young researchers. First, the BAIRAL study group, which met about six times a year on a voluntary basis and was run by research assistants, promoted research exchanges that merged the humanities and sciences, with discussions on various topics such as when algorithmic judgment becomes discrimination and what ethical issues are involved in AI characters. In addition, a workshop was held in September 2023, inviting overseas intellectuals from Northwestern University to conduct research exchanges on AI technology and ethics that transcend the boundaries of humanities and sciences. We have also deepened our interactions and research exchanges with SoftBank, including advising on SoftBank's AI ethics policy and planning new joint research on digital archives. We also planned and held joint events with the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation (Miraikan).

(4) Rethinking ethics in the digital information age and implementing inclusive education based on these ethics.

We are promoting inclusive education to examine and improve ethics in the age of digital information technology. As one of our attempts, we have published a book summarizing B'AI's past discussions on ethics in the age of digitalization, AI kara yomitoku shakai - kenryokukasuru nippon saishingijutsu [Understanding AI in Society: How Technology Exerts Power], edited by B'AI Global Forum, Yuko Itatsu and Ai Hisano (University of Tokyo Press, 2023). In July 2023, we held an event to celebrate the publication of the book, where we had a multifaceted discussion with many young researchers, highlighting the potential of the book and future challenges. In December 2023, we held an event at the UTokyo New York Office on the future of higher education in the AI age. In this two-day event, we had a fireside chat between President Fujii and Northeastern University President, Dr. Joseph Aoun, as well as a cross-disciplinary panel discussion with US experts specializing in the humanities and computer science.
In addition, we have created opportunities for students to learn about the relationship between AI and digital technology and society by offering a seminar for undergraduate students at the University of Tokyo. Specifically, in 2021, we offered a seminar on "AI and Society," and in 2023, we offered a class on the ethics of digital archiving of sexual minorities entitled "Creating Minority Digital Archives." We also hold a "Women in Tech Lunch" so that female students in science and engineering fields, who tend to feel uncomfortable on campus, can interact with each other in a casual setting.

※For more detail, please refer to the URL below.
https://beyondai.jp/contents/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Research-report_Yuko_Itatsu_202309.pdf