Who gets to shape AI — and whose communities, cultures, and knowledge systems should it serve? These are the central questions that Tatenda Tavingeyi brings to the stage in this talk.
Tatenda is a project coordinator at An AI of Our Own (AAOO), an initiative of Living Arts International, an international NGO with Cambodian roots that aims to build a peaceful, sustainable future with the living arts as a catalyst for change. AAOO envisions a future where ethical, community-centred AI replaces extractive data models, advancing sustainable community stewardship of tools and data through advocacy, applied model development, and interdisciplinary research.
Drawing on his work with indigenous communities in New Zealand, Tatenda explains what this means in practice: how Global South-centric AI rooted in local governance frameworks can blend heritage preservation with people-centred ethical AI development, and what it takes to empower communities toward an inclusive and culturally sensitive artificial intelligence.