The use of AI to support development objectives is likely to expand in India. Investments toward building the enabling conditions for AI development, and supporting pilot projects across sectors, are growing. The opportunities are immense, but so are the associated harms and risks, particularly for already marginalised or vulnerable communities who are either misrepresented and/or excluded from crucial data required to train these models.

This is a unique moment in India where government, industry bodies, and civil society actors are aligned on the need for responsible and ethical AI.

What we need in this defining moment for India’s innovation trajectory is to build the knowledge and capacities of social impact organisations, startups and relevant institutions to support the ethical and responsible development and deployment of AI.

<aside> 🔭 DFL’s Responsible AI Impact Lab (RAIL) is envisioned as a platform for stakeholders invested in the purposeful, ethical and sustainable deployment of AI in India, to exchange ideas, build communities of practice, and access the tools and expertise required to drive equitable and responsible use of AI.

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Over the next 4 months, Digital Futures Lab will host its inaugural cohort of the RAIL fellowship -
a capacity-strengthening programme targeted at social impact organisations and startups, is RAIL’s inaugural initiative. It is India’s first, interdisciplinary, practice-oriented capacity-strengthening programme focused on supporting organisations in actioning RAI principles in real-world contexts. You can learn more about the fellowship👇🏽!

Features of the RAIL Fellowship

The RAIL fellowship programme is designed to meet organisations’ unique needs through the following features:

• Principles to Practice: We will stress on translating principles into action by actively integrating them into the entire lifecycle of projects, activities and sustainable interventions. Through one-on-one mentoring, shared case studies and practical examples, we will apply principles of responsible AI to real-world scenarios, ensuring that they dovetail with our shared values of care, transparency and accountability.
• Customised Curriculum: We recognise and integrate the different backgrounds, competencies and challenges that organizations bring to the table. Interpreting these differences as a strength, we will design personalised mentoring pathways in collaboration with our experts that address specific aims, gaps, and challenges in building AI interventions. The customised approach ensures that each organisation gets the support they need to achieve their respective goals.
• Interdisciplinary and Intersectional Collaboration: We will facilitate interdisciplinary conversations by creating opportunities for organisations to explore connections between different disciplines and specialisations, seeking innovative approaches to identifying and solving complex social problems. Actioning ethical principles of AI will involve embracing different social identities of class, caste, gender, religion and ethnicity to foster a holistic understanding of biases and opportunities.
• Foresight Thinking: A crucial aspect of the fellowship is anticipating future opportunities and challenges and shaping research and action priorities that incorporate scenarios and societal trends into the conceptualization and development of AI-based interventions. Through speculative narrative building and strategic foresight methodologies, participants will refine their skills in adapting their organisational goals and resources in a more technologically-mediated world.
• Continuous Learning and Resources: Participants in the inaugural RAIL fellowship will be encouraged to enable and participate in self-directed learning from a diverse range of resources to deepen their understanding of integrating responsible AI into their products and services. Through systematic peer-sharing of impact-driven insights and knowledge at regular intervals, we encourage a culture of incremental learning to be proactive in interpreting the best practices in AI development for social impact.

Indicative Themes and Modules

Programmatic Information

Who is this for?

Why should my organisation apply?