Empowering Change Through AI: The ICAAD and MIT Sloan Collaboration
A New Era of Advocacy
In the digital age, artificial intelligence (AI) is revolutionizing countless industries, but its potential for social impact is particularly noteworthy. One organization at the forefront of this movement is the International Center for Advocates Against Discrimination (ICAAD). Focused on systemic inequity, ICAAD equips marginalized communities with tools to drive meaningful change. This collaboration with MIT Sloan’s Generative AI Lab (GenAI-Lab) exemplifies how technology can be harnessed to amplify voices advocating for social justice, particularly in the realm of gender equity.
The Power of Empirical Data
ICAAD’s flagship initiative, TrackGBV, stands as a testament to the importance of rigorous data analysis in addressing gender-based violence. This ambitious program represents a large-scale empirical study examining judicial bias in domestic and sexual violence sentencing decisions across Pacific Island countries. Over the last decade, ICAAD has meticulously reviewed over 6,000 cases, resulting in a core dataset of approximately 3,000 cases. Alarmingly, this analysis revealed judicial bias in 52% of decisions, leading to reduced accountability for perpetrators and exacerbating trauma for survivors.
Director of Data Analytics and Insights at ICAAD, Jyoti Diwan, emphasizes the profound impact of their findings. “Our data has informed judicial directives in Fiji and led to legislative reforms in the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu,” she says. This empirical evidence provided key insights that have not only influenced local policy but also facilitated the institutionalization of gender-based violence methodologies within women’s rights organizations.
Automation and AI: A Revolutionary Approach
Recognizing the time-consuming nature of their analysis, ICAAD launched ImpartialAI, a groundbreaking project aimed at automating the extraction and evaluation of judicial bias using generative AI. Working closely with the students of MIT’s GenAI-Lab, the center has made significant strides in testing and validating a crucial component of the automation pipeline. Shubham Kumar Jain, a machine learning engineer at Adobe and volunteer with ICAAD, played a pivotal role in this initiative, ensuring that the technical underpinnings align with the project’s goals.
Jain notes, “This project offered a valuable applied learning opportunity in legal natural language processing for the students.” By leveraging AI, ICAAD is not only making strides in its internal operations but also setting a new precedent for how technology can be utilized to expose and address systemic bias.
Insights from Collaborators
The students at MIT involved in this project have gained firsthand experience in tackling significant issues affecting marginalized communities. MBA student Eliza Weaver encapsulates this sentiment, stating, “I realized AI isn’t just about innovation; it’s about amplifying the voices of those working for change, especially in areas like gender justice.” This aligns with ICAAD’s mission, which is to ensure that technology serves a purpose beyond just function; it should drive social responsibility.
Furthermore, the ongoing impact of this collaboration is evident as ICAAD’s pipeline is refined, informed by the extensive work of the GenAI-Lab students. By scaling analysis across various countries, Diwan envisions a future where advanced AI tools are employed by judiciaries to quantify discrimination within their courts. This could ultimately reshape judicial policy and enhance transparency and accountability in the legal system.
A Holistic Approach to AI
As conversations around generative AI continue to evolve, the ICAAD project is a prime example of responsible AI application. The students and faculty involved are committed to addressing ethical implications and ensuring that their work contributes positively to society. MBA student Ziyu (Christina) Ye resonates with this purpose, expressing her broader mission to use her skills and AI for good, ultimately improving lives and promoting equity.
The sentiment is shared by many participants, including Selina Liang, a Master of Finance student who discovered how AI can bridge gaps in access to justice for marginalized communities. “Seeing our technical work directly contribute to identifying gender biases in legal systems reinforced my belief in AI as a tool for social impact,” she shared.
The Future of AI in Advocacy
Since the collaboration with MIT, ICAAD has continued to expand the coverage of ImpartialAI, tackling more complex challenges and refining the AI’s capabilities. Andrés Camarillo, a Master of Business Analytics student, reflects on the rapid advancement of AI, noting how recent improvements in large language models now enable them to handle nuanced tasks that demand legal context. This not only signifies a shift in technological capabilities but also heralds new opportunities to address meaningful problems through AI.
As generative AI matures, it will inevitably present both challenges and opportunities. This dynamic landscape invites a collective commitment from students and technologists to harness AI’s power ethically and responsibly, catalyzing systemic change across various sectors.
Trailblazing New Paths
The collaborative efforts between ICAAD and the students from MIT Sloan capture the essence of how technology can evolve to serve humanity. With each step, they are not only paving the way for innovative solutions in the nonprofit sector but are also ensuring that the tools developed reflect a commitment to justice and equity. The focus on responsible AI highlights a significant shift in how emerging technologies can be molded to tackle entrenched societal issues, ensuring that the voices of the most vulnerable communities are heard and amplified.