The enduring pains toward technological self-determination: AI governance and the case of Brazil’s Applied AI Research Centers

The consequences of widespread control over technological infrastructure, economy, and data have become key talking points by critical scholars. Many have asked what exactly can be done to democratize access to data and AI infrastructure. Particularly in the Global South, which has historically been a source of raw material and a testbed for Big Tech, how can countries and their institutions foster strategic developments that facilitate sovereign and nation-centric technological infrastructure? The Lunch Talk will offer a glimpse of just how researchers, policymakers, private actors, and local communities have been grappling with that question through a presentation of Brazil’s first AI policy instrument in action: the creation of Applied AI Research Centers. Based on data from a series of interviews, the presentation paints a picture of a policy initiative that navigates between a push for sovereignty and renewed dependency, opportunities offered by a thriving scientific community and limitations such as a funding crunch.

Vortragender: Guilherme Cavalcante Silva (Institute for Technoscience & Society, York University, Canada)

Termin: 3. Juni 2025 12:00 bis 13:00 Uhr HS 382

Bild: https://unsplash.com/de/fotos/ein-computergeneriertes-bild-des-buchstabens-a-ZPOoDQc8yMw