[Wecount] Fwd: rebooting disability and AI project

Fri Feb 5 12:41:15 UTC 2021

FYI, we should work out a way to link our projects.
Jutta

Sent from my iPhone

Begin forwarded message:

From: "Gerard Goggin (Prof)" <gerard.goggin at ntu.edu.sg>
Date: February 5, 2021 at 4:12:44 AM EST
To: "Andrew Prahl (Asst Prof)" <andrew.prahl at ntu.edu.sg>, "Calvo, Rafael A" <r.calvo at imperial.ac.uk>, Jutta Treviranus <jtreviranus at ocadu.ca>
Cc: "Wong Meng Ee (Assoc Prof)" <mengee.wong at nie.edu.sg>
Subject: rebooting disability and AI project

Dear colleagues, especially Rafa and Jutta,

Hope everyone is well.

Apologies for radio silence on the disability/AI project (the one funded by NTU’s Institute for Sci & Tech for Humanity – NISTH, in conjunction with Micron; some 12 months back) – the extra teaching load & readjustments last semester were challenging.

So, we are fresh with the enthusiasm of the New Year, and keen to advance the project. A summary of the proposal is below – just to jog your memory!

In the intervening period, things have emerged that can help us sharpen the focus – and also leverage off/benefit from engagement with the key stakeholders in the digital inclusion area in SG.

So, what we would propose is to refine/redesign the project slightly, and view the timeframe.

1. Refinement:

From engagement with key stakeholders in SG over the past few months, we are thinking it would be good to tweak the project as follows:

  1.  Scan of Disability and AI developments and issues in SG (3 months; Feb-May 2021): This would involve desk research, consultation, stakeholder interviews, analysis etc to explore and scope out emergent technology and associated social, user, policy etc developments in Singapore (especially associated with apps, data, and AI), focussing on 5 key sectors: health; transport; entertainment; work; and payment apps. We would draft a short, accessible report for feedback and discussion at a small workshop of researchers and stakeholders (users, industry, policymakers, sector leaders/tech & service delivery leads).
  2.  Selection of 1-2 sectors for detailed investigation (2 months: June-July 2021): Following the scan, we’d select 1 or 2 sectors for detailed investigation (as per our initial application concept).
  3.  Drafting findings and papers (2 months: August-Sept 2021): Then we would analyze and draw together findings, and draft papers for publication. Also hold a small workshop or seminar to get feedback.

This revised timeline (and approach) would be dependent on getting approval from the funder (Prof Evers, Director of NISTH). Also: I will add another $10k to the project funds, from my endowed chair fund. So this would give us $20k total to have strong RA support.

2:  Engagement/Support from Digital Readiness Network:

To make the project possible, and greatly enhance involvement of participants and stakeholders, we would like to take advantage of our links (especially Meng Ee’s links) with key policy and service agencies and users groups.

Let us know if you have any feedback at this stage.

Otherwise, we will get the ‘show on the road’ here in terms of hiring an RA, and writing a brief/plan for the scan of disability & AI developments – and will share this with you both especially, Rafa and Jutta.

And then we could organize a small workshop/meeting to discuss/brainstorm, and refine the research plan.

There are also a couple of NTU colleagues – one in data science, and one with expertise in disability and law – we might bring into the mix; so more on that.

With thanks and best wishes, looking forward to collaborating with everyone on this.

Gerard & Meng Ee

Summary of proposal
Designing AI to Stop Disability Bias

Context: Roughly 1 to 4 or 5 people in populations worldwide has a significant disability. AI, machine learning, automation, and new data technologies have considerable promise for addressing key barriers, challenges, and factors involved in the exclusion, discrimination, and lack of social and economic participation for people with disabilities.
Around the world, AI is being widely deployed, for instance, by companies such as Microsoft, Google, and others, as well as healthcare providers, social and community service providers, communication and media companies, information providers, to improve accessibility of technologies, goods, and services for people with disabilities. The potential of AI to advance the situation of people with disabilities, in line for instance, with the Sustainable Development Goals or the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is a high priority, cross-cutting global. At the same time, evidence is emerging that some forms of AI and its design and deployment may be entrenching bias and discrimination against people with disabilities – or even being associated with new forms of exclusion and injustice.
Research: As yet there is scant research available on AI and disability. The most systematic piece of research is the authoritative Nov 2019 report from AI Now Institute that lays out the key issues in disability, discrimination and bias (AI Now, 2019). The other leading work is the research of Prof Jutta Treviranus (Treviranus, 2018, 2019), who argues for inclusive data sets as key to responsible AI in disability.
Aim: Given the global state of play, this research addresses the problem statement identified by the research and debate to date, namely: how can we ensure responsible AI in relation to people with disabilities? (Clegg, 2020). Laying the ground for a scaled-up, comprehensive interdisciplinary study, this seed project is focussed on three key research questions:

  1.  What concepts of disability are framing AI as it is developing in key areas of social life?
  2.  What are the implications for current and emerging forms of AI for disability and social inclusion?
  3.  What data sets are underpinning AI, machine learning, and automation in relation to disability? And how can we conceptualize, construct, and encourage more inclusive data sets?
Approach: As a multi-ethnic, culturally diverse, technologically advanced society, where disability is receiving considerable recent attention Singapore offers an ideal ‘test-bed’ for investigating the ‘intersectional’ or complex ways that this aspect of AI is unfolding.
Using a qualitative interdisciplinary approach drawing on disability studies, digital media research, science and technology studies, and HCI, we will focus on one strategic important area: AI in FinTech and its use by and implications for people with disabilities.
Our research plan is as follows:
1) To establish the context, gather ‘best practice’ examples of AI in assistive technology developed globally and locally. Assistive technology tends to be a pioneering area in inclusive design for disability and accessibility, so this will help develop a ‘baseline’.
2) Study the deployment of FinTech products and services, including via apps, in Singapore. Using a range of methods, including developer interviews, user interview and focus groups, and analysis of apps (using the ‘walk-through’ method, as well as critical disability studies methods), analyse:

  *   how AI is being deployed in FinTech;
  *   whether AI design and implementation is being guided by objectives of inclusion, avoiding and overcoming bias and discrimination;
  *   what the effects of AI in FinTech are for users with disabilities;
  *   what data sets are being used to ‘train’ AI in emerging FinTech.
3) Formulate our findings in an accessible draft report for discussion at a small stakeholder workshop.
4) Finalize the report,and distribute. Prepare a paper on the research for publication in a top international journal. Prepare accessible article for publication in op-eds or widely read blogs.
Scale-Up Plan: This pilot project will provide a vital and invaluable stepping stone for scaling-up the research into a major interdisciplinary international project. Through the research project, we will consolidate and extend existing contacts with key Singaporean ministries and funding agencies, community organizations and service providers in disability, social services, health, and associated areas, with major international technology firms, and a wide range of technology developers and designers. We foresee an ambitious yet highly feasible landmark project that would undertake a comprehensive study of how to design AI to avoid disability bias across a range of strategic crucial sectors (workforce; education and training; health; banking and finance; and communication and media). Working with our collaborators, and other leaders in the field, to obtain such funding, we would target major international foundations as well as national research agencies.

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Dr Gerard Goggin<https://can01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fresearch.ntu.edu.sg%2Fexpertise%2Facademicprofile%2Fpages%2FStaffProfile.aspx%3FST_EMAILID%3Dgerard.goggin&data=04%7C01%7Cjtreviranus%40ocadu.ca%7Cda734ba9e09048c7b2c008d8c9b6300c%7C06e469d12d2a468fae9b7df0968eb6d7%7C0%7C0%7C637481131634569987%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=Kq9xo6VQzEf2nA6xzpsYuefqMx7yf1Ujr4ys8WkMMz0%3D&reserved=0>| FAHA
Wee Kim Wee Professor of Communication Studies
Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information<https://can01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wkwsci.ntu.edu.sg%2FPages%2FHome.aspx&data=04%7C01%7Cjtreviranus%40ocadu.ca%7Cda734ba9e09048c7b2c008d8c9b6300c%7C06e469d12d2a468fae9b7df0968eb6d7%7C0%7C0%7C637481131634569987%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=bhfu3T06%2BghYWPz8K3OUxZdAcbHiXn1OXffK15u%2FqXo%3D&reserved=0>
Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
e: gerard.goggin at ntu.edu.sg<mailto:gerard.goggin at ntu.edu.sg>
publications via ORCiD<https://can01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Forcid.org%2F0000-0002-2954-5309&data=04%7C01%7Cjtreviranus%40ocadu.ca%7Cda734ba9e09048c7b2c008d8c9b6300c%7C06e469d12d2a468fae9b7df0968eb6d7%7C0%7C0%7C637481131634579947%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=n0PVaDmXJ69zrqfXrrgeZOUpqmjTUJ%2FTwIEPnr79bPU%3D&reserved=0>

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