Unraveling Corporate Capture in SDGs: AI for Social Good in Africa

The notion of Artificial Intelligence (AI) for social good is being actively pushed as a route to involve private tech vendors in the pursuit of targets ascribing to the Sustainable Development Goals. With our guest Gianluca Iazzolino, we discuss the implications of the "AI for Social Good" (AI4SG) logic for intended providers and beneficiaries, with a focus on Africa. From biometric databases to large-scale monitoring infrastructures, the discussion unravels the problematic implications of the AI4SG discourse in the African context.

Gianluca Iazzolino is a Lecturer in Digital Development at the Global Development Institute, University of Manchester. He uses ethnographic methods to explore the precarious balance of inclusion and surveillance that characterizes most digital development initiatives. His research works can be accessed on Researchgate.

Sources: Iazzolino, G. (2021). Infrastructure of compassionate repression: making sense of biometrics in Kakuma refugee camp. Information Technology for Development, 27(1), 111-128.