Humanitarian AI Today’s guest host Jodi Hilton speaks with Allison Cohen, Applied Projects Lead, AI for Humanity at Mila, about Mila’s AI for Humanity program, her work, background and thoughts on AI for Good and Humanitarian AI.

Allison Cohen with Mila

Allison Cohen from Mila

Humanitarian AI Today’s guest host Sarah Spencer and Lars Peter Nissen from ACAPS who produces the Trumanitarian podcast series interview each other and discuss humanitarian operations, humanitarian applications of artificial intelligence, data, decision making and their work and research.

Lars Peter has worked in the humanitarian field for the past 20 years and is experienced in both sudden-onset disasters and protracted crises. Lars is passionate about transforming humanitarian action and believes that unlocking the potential of collaboration is key to achieving this. He is the Director of www.acaps.org and teaches at Copenhagen University specializing in Disaster Management. Sarah Spencer, is an independent consultant and Civil Servant in the British Government. She has worked for two decades in support of communities affected by conflict, instability and disasters and is passionate about unlocking the power of frontier technologies to improve humanitarian action.

Lars Peter Nissen from ACAPS

Humanitarian AI Today’s guest host Mark Dalton from the United Nations speaks with Jean-Martin Bauer, a Senior Digital Advisor at the World Food Program, about WFP data collection and hunger mapping initiatives and uses of artificial intelligence and machine learning.

Jean-Martin Bauer from WFP and Mark Dalton from the UN

Humanitarian AI Today’s guest host Mark Dalton from the United Nations speaks with Monica Lam, Professor and Faculty Director of Stanford University's Open Virtual Assistant Lab (OVAL) about her team's work and the importance of voice technology to the humanitarian community.

Monica Lam from Stanford University's Open Virtual Assistant Lab

Humanitarian AI Today’s guest host Jean-Martin Bauer, Senior Digital Advisor from the United Nations World Food Program speaks with Gaurav Menghani, Research Engineer from Google about efficient deep learning, on-device ML and humanitarian applications of artificial intelligence.

Gaurav Menghani from Google Research

Ralf Südhoff, Director at Centre for Humanitarian Action (CHA), speaks with Brent Phillips, Producer of the Humanitarian AI Today podcast series, about the German humanitarian aid community, CHA’s work, humanitarian operations, cash aid programs, localization initiatives, technology and artificial intelligence.

Rolf Sudhoff from The Center for Humanitarian Action

Ralf Sudhoff from The Center for Humanitarian Action

Daniel Eriksson, Chief Executive Officer of Transparency International
speaks with Brent Phillips, Producer of the Humanitarian AI Today podcast series, about Transparency International’s work combatting corruption, sustainable development and the future of transparency initiatives, corporate social responsibility, and artificial intelligence.

Daniel Eriksson from Transparency International

Joanna van der Merwe, a Defense Tech Fellow from The Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA) speaks with Sarah Spencer about the war and escalating humanitarian crisis in Ukraine, hybrid warfare and the challenges and threats humanitarian actors face in the age of AI.

Joanna van der Merwe from The Center for European Policy Analysis

Juan Lavista Ferres, Chief Scientist and Lab Director at Microsoft’s AI for Good Research Lab, speaks with Humanitarian AI Today's host Sarah Spencer about how his team is aiding NGOs by leveraging data to address a variety of global humanitarian issues, and shares his thoughts on the future of data-based solutions for increasingly complex humanitarian efforts.

Juan Lavista Ferres from Microsoft's AI for Good Research Lab

Laura McGorman, Director of Data for Good at Meta speaks with Andrew Schroeder and Ewan Oglethorpe about data sharing for good today and in the future in the Metaverse, the types of sophisticated datasets her team makes available to researchers, humanitarian actors and others, and how Meta is collaborating with the humanitarian community around Ukraine and around improving the use and impact of data for good. Andrew Schroeder is the VP of Research and Analysis at Direct Relief and Co-Director of CrisisReady and Ewan Oglethorpe is the Executive Director of Data Friendly Space (DFS) and co-creator of theDEEP.

Laura McGorman from Meta's Data for Good Program

Tyler Radford, Executive Director of Humanitarian OpenStreetMap, speaks with Ewan Oglethorpe, Executive Director of Data Friendly Space (DFS) and co-creator of theDEEP and Brent Phillips, producer of the Humanitarian AI Today podcast series about the Humanitarian OpenStreetMap initiative, the evolution of the team and technology, artificial intelligence in the humanitarian sector and the war and mapping in Ukraine.

The podcast was recorded in Geneva at The Humanitarian Networks & Partnerships Weeks, where both Tyler and Ewan were presenting their works to the humanitarian community. Brent joined remotely from the Roux Institute in Portland, Maine.

Tyler Radford from Humanitarian OpenStreetMap

Preeti Adhikary, seasoned tech executive, startup advisor, emerging venture professional, and former Vice President of Marketing at Fusemachines, and Ahmad Tafti, Assistant Professor of Computer Science at the University of Southern Maine and Director of the HexAI Research Lab discuss the future of AI education with Mia Kossiavelou and Brent Phillips, producers of the Humanitarian AI Today podcast series. Preeti and Ahmad offer their thoughts on AI education, challenges facing the field and the emerging focus on opening up AI education for all, as well as investment in AI education, the relationship between education and applications, and responsibility and ethics in AI.

Preeti Adhikary and Ahmad Tafti on AI Education

Heather Leson, Digital Innovation Lead with the Solferino Academy of the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) and Jenny Paola Yela, Information Management and Data Science Officer with the IFRC speak with Theodora Gazi, a Lawyer with a PhD in Refugee Law currently with ActionAid. Heather Leson and Paola Yela discuss the Solferino Academy’s Data Playbook initiative, the IFRC’s Digital Transformation Strategy and how their teams are working with national societies to support digital transformation and crisis response. Heather and Paola also provide important feedback from national societies on digital innovation and share their thoughts on humanitarian applications of artificial intelligence.

Heather Leson and Paola Yela from the IFRC

Scott Ciment, Senior Rule of Law Expert with the University of South Carolina Rule of Law Collaborative speaks with Theodora Gazi, a Lawyer with a PhD in Refugee Law currently with ActionAid about how technology can support efforts to increase access to justice for marginalized groups in developing countries with under-resourced justice systems and about human rights, the war in Ukraine and applications of artificial intelligence.

Scott Ciment with the University of South Carolina Rule of Law Collaborative

Larissa Doroshenko, a Visiting Lecturer of Communication Studies at Northeastern University, speaks with Humanitarian AI Today’s guest host Jodi Hilton about her computational research studying disinformation and misinformation campaigns with a focus on the war in Ukraine and on the “dark side” of online media.

Larissa received her doctoral degree in Communication Arts with a minor in Political Science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her current research explores how marginalized groups, ranging from racial minorities and women politicians to pro-democratic citizens in authoritarian regimes use emerging media to make their voices heard and gain power to drive change.

Larissa Doroshenko with Northeastern University

Gerd Buta, head of in-kind food operations in Ukraine for the World Food Program (WFP) speaks with Humanitarian AI Today’s guest host Christopher Hoffman from Humanity Link about the World Food Program’s work in Ukraine, conditions on the ground this Winter, aid logistics, open data sharing and about innovative uses of technology and artificial intelligence.

Gerd Buta with the World Food Program

Kyrylo Lapko with SpivDiia and NeedsList speaks with Humanitarian AI Today guest host Brent Phillips about Ukrainian humanitarian relief organizations, needs across Ukraine this Winter, logistics and import compliance, open data sharing, data and information sensitivity, initiatives like NeedsList and Signpost, and about humanitarian applications of artificial intelligence and new question answering applications like ChatGPT.

Kyrylo Lapko with SpivDiia and NeedsList

Gaurav Nemade, former Product Manager with Google who worked on the development of LaMDA, Google's large language model for dialogue applications, speaks with Christopher Hoffman from Humanity link and Megan DeMatteo, a Journalist covering Web3 about powerful new generative machine learning models. These models have dominated the news this year, spurred by OpenAI's release of ChatGPT. For humanitarian actors, Gaurav goes over how generative machine learning models work and how next-generation chatbots like ChatGPT compare to search engines. Gaurav, Christopher and Megan talk in depth about the accelerating pace of advancements in computing and the types of powerful new conversational AI applications, hybrid search engines and even more powerful machine learning models that humanitarian actors will see emerge in 2023. Gaurav, Christopher and Megan broach the growing impact of AI on the humanitarian sector, challenges and opportunities that humanitarian actors should be conscious of and how humanitarian actors can get involved and contribute to helping train, fine-tune, adapt and improve AI applications, making them suitable for use across the humanitarian community. Interview notes: https://humanitarianaitoday.medium.com/gaurav-nemade-on-humanitarian-ai-today-91d385d4057

Gaurav Nemade on LaMDA and ChatGPT

Join Humanitarian AI Today as guest host Brent Phillips sits down with Bret Kinsella, founder of Voicebot.ai and Synthedia, to delve into the latest advancements in conversational AI and voice technology. Kinsella, a leading expert in the field, will discuss the release of ChatGPT by OpenAI and its potential to revolutionize the humanitarian aid sector. Learn about the capabilities of large language machine learning models for dialogue applications, and gain insights on the direction of this technology and the steps humanitarian organizations should take to adapt and incorporate these powerful tools in their operations by 2023. This podcast is a must-listen for professionals in the humanitarian aid community seeking to stay informed on the latest developments in AI technology.

Bret Kinsella from Voicebot.ai and Synthedia on ChatGPT

Liam Nicoll, Product Lead with the International Rescue Committee’s Signpost initiative speaks with Humanitarian AI Today guest host Alexandra Pittman, Founder of ImpactMapper, and Brent Phillips about Signpost’s work providing people with accurate, accessible and timely information in times of crisis and about open data sharing, ChatGPT and humanitarian applications of artificial intelligence. This two part interview was recorded live in NYC and then followed-up with a discussion on ChatGPT geared for humanitarian actors.

Liam Nicoll with IRC's Signpost Initiative

Aaron Margolis, a Data Scientist researching Responsible AI and Large Language Models, speaks with Brent Phillips, producer of the Humanitarian AI Today podcast series, and Megan DeMatteo, a journalist covering Web3, about ChatGPT. The interview is geared towards helping humanitarian actors get acquainted with emerging new conversational AI applications being developed by OpenAI, Google, Meta and others, large large language models powering them, and setting up, testing and deploying models.

Aaron Margolis on ChatGPT

Ximena Contla, NLP Project Manager with Data Friendly Space (DFS) discusses ChatGPT and use of large language models to support Turkey and Syria earthquake response. Guest hosted by Rishi Jha from DFS and Brent Phillips, with Nayid Orozco Bohorquez a Product Lead from DFS and Sylvan Ridderinkhof, a Data Engineer from Zimmerman, an AI data information technology company, joining the conversation, the interview touches on humanitarian emergencies, relief operations in the field, data generated by humanitarian actors, data summarization, open data sharing frameworks like IATI, Data Friendly Space’s Data Entry and Exploration Platform (DEEP), deployment of large language models by humanitarian actors, ethical AI and a range of other subjects.

Ximena Contla with Data Friendly Space

Claudia von Vacano, Executive Director of the D-Lab and the Digital Humanities at the University of California, Berkeley, speaks with Humanitarian AI Today guest host Larissa Doroshenko, a lecturer of Communication Studies at Northeastern University and a researcher specializing in state-sponsored disinformation, and Mythili Tirumalasetty from the University of Pittsburgh’s Health and Explainable AI Research Laboratory about Berkeley’s D-Lab, the university’s brand new College of Computing, Data Science and Society and about the D-Lab’s research into hate speech. Claudia, Larissa and Mythili discuss in detail the lab’s research methodology, machine learning and natural language processing, and parallels between hate speech research and research into misinformation and disinformation and the subject of bias in healthcare.

Claudia Von Vacano from the D-lab at the University of California, Berkeley

John Adams, former Deputy Director for Digital and Data Services with the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, speaks with Roderick Besseling, Head of the Data and Analytics Unit at the Norwegian Refugee Council, about open data sharing frameworks used by humanitarian and international development organizations and their importance in the AI age. John and Roderick discuss in detail why transparency and open data sharing matters to the humanitarian community, different open data sharing frameworks, John’s involvement in helping lead and grow the the International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI) and IATI’s emergence as a valuable source of information for artificial intelligent applications. John and Roderick also mention NetHope’s upcoming Global Summit and the importance of data standards to work around climate change. Joining the discussion, Brent Phillips added insight on IATI and uses of IATI by AI applications.

John Adams formerly with the UK's Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

Suzy Madigan, founder of ‘The Machine Race’ blog series and senior humanitarian advisor at CARE international speaks with Shivaang Sharma, PhD researcher on Humanitarian AI systems at University College London (UCL). Ahead of the UK Government’s AI Safety Summit, Suzy and Shivaang discuss some of the human rights and safety implications of AI for society globally, particularly for communities in the global south experiencing humanitarian crises, conflicts, poverty or marginalization and look at how to ensure that the design, deployment and governance of AI is inclusive and equitable, to make sure everybody can share in its potential benefits and be protected from potential harms. The discussion will help humanitarian actors understand why traditional humanitarian NGOs need to think through the implications of AI both for the societal changes it brings, and the considerations for using AI within humanitarian operations.

Suzy Madigan Founder of the Machine Race

André Heller Pérache, Director of the International Rescue Committee’s Signpost project speaks with Isabella Loaiza, a Postdoctoral Associate at MIT Sloan School Of Management and former Research Assistant at MIT Media Lab. Isabella and André discuss Signpost’s work responding to the informational needs of people facing crises, the program’s growth plans and how Signpost is approaching experimenting with generative AI. Isabella and André speak in detail about the importance of deploying large language models correctly and in ways that are safe and useful for vulnerable populations and broach Isabella’s research around the future of work and other topics.

André Heller Pérache from Signpost

Shadrock Roberts, Director of Global Data Protection, Privacy, and Ethical AI at Mercy Corps, speaks with Humanitarian AI Today guest host, Nasim Motalebi, an Information Scientist, Researcher and co-author of a Digital Humanitarian Network / UN OCHA supported paper on “Generative AI for Humanitarians”, about data protection and privacy in the AI age and about how humanitarian organizations are experimenting with generative AI and addressing AI from legal, regulatory, ethical and responsible AI vantage points. Nasim and Shadrock also discuss developmental testing, synthetic data, data interpretation and analysis, risk reduction, chatbots and prompting. Nasim closes the interview with input on data sharing frameworks like IATI, HDX and ReliefWeb, data tagging and work ahead of humanitarian organizations in 2024 needed to advance humanitarian applications of artificial intelligence.

Shadrock Roberts from Mercy Corps

Roberto Vila-Sexto, Country Director for Ukraine with the Norwegian Refugee Council, speaks with Jakob Harbo, Country Manager for Ukraine with the Danish Red Cross. Joined by Brent Phillips, Roberto and Jakob discuss their work and roles, the scale and severity of conditions in Ukraine this Winter, humanitarian needs and operations, risks and complications humanitarian actors face in Ukraine, attacks on humanitarian facilities and their views on humanitarian applications of artificial intelligence, including their views on real-world wartime humanitarian applications of AI and concerns. Closing the interview, Roberto and Jakob offer their thoughts on futuristic AI applications they would like to see developed.

Jakob Harbo and Roberto Vila_Sexto, Ukraine Country Managers, discuss Humanitarian AI

Lindsey Moore, CEO and Founder of DevelopMetrics, speaks with Brent Phillips, Humanitarian AI Today podcast Producer, about DevelopMetrics’ work helping humanitarian organizations experiment with large language models. Lindsey and Brent discuss humanitarian applications of artificial intelligence, domain specificity, large language models, model training, testing and fine tuning, data structuring, data privacy and security, sandboxing, goal and objective setting, applicational development and deployment and other subjects relevant to humanitarian organizations interested in experimenting with generative AI.

Lindsey Moore with DevelopMetrics

Humanitarian AI Today's host Mia Kossiavelou speaks with Kate Dodgson and Robert Trigwell about the Humanitarian Data Science and Ethics Group and DSEG’s new Framework for the Ethical Use of Advanced Data Science Methods in the Humanitarian Sector. Kate is a consultant with the Data Science Initiative in the Hague and Rob is an Analytical, Knowledge and Output (AKO) Unit Lead at the United Nations International Organization for Migration.

Robert Trigwell from IOM and Kate Dodgson from the Data Science Initiative

Humanitarian AI Today is the leading AI for Good podcast series focusing on humanitarian applications of artificial intelligence. We interview leaders, developers and innovators advancing humanitarian applications of AI from across the tech and humanitarian communities. The series is produced by the Humanitarian AI meetup.com community, linking local groups in Cambridge, San Francisco, Seattle, New York City, Toronto, Montreal, London, Paris, Berlin, Oslo, Geneva, Zurich, Bangalore, Tel Aviv and Tokyo.

Humanitarian AI Today

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