Reclaiming Algorithm Impact Assessments: Towards Participatory AI Governance

  • Workshop
  • Living Room
  • Wednesday 21.05 — 14:15 - 15:30

Organising Institution

d.pia.lab, LSTS, VUB

Europe

The Brussels Laboratory for Data Protection & Privacy Impact Assessments, or d.pia.lab, connects basic, methodological and applied research, provides training and delivers policy advice related to impact assessments in the areas of innovation and technology development. Whilst legal aspects of privacy and personal data protection constitute our core expertise, the Laboratory mobilises other disciplines including ethics, philosophy, surveillance studies and science, technology & society (STS) studies. Established in November 2015, the Laboratory constitutes a part of and builds upon the experience of the Research Group on Law, Science, Technology & Society (LSTS) at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Belgium.
Designed as an interactive and interdisciplinary discussion, this workshop invites researchers, activists, civil society organisations and practitioners interested in AI governance to brainstorm and propose concrete pathways to rethinking algorithm impact assessments (AIAs) as tools for meaningful public engagement and accountability. Reclaiming AIAs means challenging the paradigm that sees impact assessments as merely expert-driven exercises whereby the contribution of persons potentially affected by AI systems is marginalised. Instead, turning AIAs into collective exercises giving prominence to their inputs would arguably lead to fairer AI systems. Yet, as participation does not mean co-decision, such an approach may mask forms of participation washing. Therefore, it is necessary to find novel solutions for participatory AI governance. As researchers, we have critically analysed AIAs and tried to propose strategies to address these shortcomings. To kickstart the discussion, we will briefly share our insights. Then, the participants will have the floor.

Host

Alessandra Calvi

d.pia.lab, LSTS, VUB - Belgium

Alessandra Calvi is a PhD candidate in the LSTS and in the d.pia.lab at VUB since August 2019 and in the Equipes Traitement de l'Information et Systèmes (ETIS) lab at CY Cergy Paris Université (CYU) since September 2021. Her research interests include the relationships between data protection law and technology, gender/discrimination issues, and sustainability. In October 2021, she was entrusted with a research mandate on the EUTOPIA-funded interdisciplinary project 'Enhancing the inclusiveness of smart cities: reinterpreting Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) through intersectional gender lenses' between VUB and CYU, under the joint supervision of the legal scholar Prof. Paul De Hert and the computer scientist Prof. Dimitris Kotzinos.

Host

Anastasia Karagianni

LSTS, VUB - Belgium

Anastasia Karagianni is a Doctoral Researcher at the LSTS Department of the Law and Criminology Faculty of VUB and former FARI Scholar and. Her academic background is mainly based on International and European Human Rights Law, as she holds an LL.M. from the Department of International Studies of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. During her Master's studies, she was an exchange student for one year at the Faculty of International Law at KU Leuven. She has been also a visiting researcher at the iCourts research team of the University of Copenhagen. Her academic research focuses on the "Divergencies of gender discrimination in AI". Besides her academic interests, Anastasia is a digital rights activist, since she is a co-founder of DATAWO, a civil society organisation based in Greece advocating about gender equality in the digital era. Anastasia Karagianni was MozFest Ambassador 2023, and Mozilla Awardee for the project “A Feminist Dictionary in AI”– of the Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence working group.

Host

Maciej Otmianowski

d.pia.lab, LSTS, VUB - Belgium

Maciej Otmianowski is a doctoral researcher in the Law, Science, Technology and Society Research Group (LSTS) and Managing Director of the Brussels Laboratory for Data Protection & Privacy Impact Assessments (d.pia.lab) at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB). He works under the supervision of Prof. Niels van Dijk. In his PhD, he explores the impact of the risk-based approach on the Rule of Law in the context of digital law from the perspective of Science and Technology Studies, risk perception studies and law.