Inclusive co-design of AI systems

Project Abstract: When AI systems are adopted in critical applications, any failure can pose serious risks to the health, safety, and well-being of users or other related stakeholders. Accurate estimation of the severity of the risks and thorough planning for mitigating them are indispensable but extremely challenging. This is especially true for marginalized and minority communities. Considering such a gap, we aim to accelerate the design of inclusive AI systems through a concrete case study of an accessible form of payment for the elderly population. As a first step, we plan to identify the barriers preventing marginalized users, in particular the elderly population, from participating in the design process of such AI systems. The outcomes from this research contribute to improving the existing co-design practices toward the development of inclusive AI, and inform the construction of a shared set of vocabulary that technologists and policymakers can use to prevent harms and risks AI can bring to the minority and marginalized stakeholders of the technology at design time.

CORE RESEARCH TEAM

Principal Investigator: Professor Jin Guo

Associate Professor, School of Computer Science, McGill University.

Professor AJung Moon

Assistant Professor in Electrical and Computer Engineering at McGill University.

Professor Karyn Moffatt

Associate Professor Canada Research Chair in Inclusive Social Computing, Graduate Program Director, PhD.

Professor Jutta Treviranus 

Professor in the Faculty of Design at Ontario College of Art & Design (OCAD), Director of the Inclusive Design Research Centre (IDRC).