Over the past two days, the Just AI Conference created a rare space for reflection, exchange, and, perhaps most importantly, connection across disciplines, sectors, and jurisdictions. As Loise Ochanda, AI4D Programme Officer at the International Development Research Centre,reflected in the closing session, “it just shows the interconnectedness of the many things that form AI.”
From language and data to infrastructure and governance, the remaining work is to make sense of these intersectional relationships in practice. Through discussions with decolonial scholars, language specialists, data protection experts, information regulators and AI policymakers, the Just AI Framework was no longer just an idea on paper; it was embodied in the experiences of the stakeholders and affected communities present. As one participant said, “Over the past one and a half days, it has come alive.”
Rather than offering neat conclusions, the conference surfaced a set of urgent questions that will continue to shape the Just AI agenda: Who owns your mother tongue? Are we just fodder for algorithms? Can we meaningfully manage our own data? And what does justice in AI look like in the African context — not in theory, but in practice?
Other updates from the conference include:
- Reflections from Day 1 and Day 2 of the Just AI Conference.
- Live stream links for Day 1’s scholarly focus, and Day 2’s policy focus.
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