Helani Galpaya

Helani Galpaya is the CEO of LIRNEasia, a pro-poor, pro-market think tank working on digital and other infrastructure policy issues across the emerging Asia Pacific. She researches and engages in public discourse on topics related to meaningful digital access, human rights online, changes to labor and skills in light of technology and climate change, and governance of platforms, data, and algorithms.

Could you briefly tell us about yourself and the work you do at the intersection of AI and your community or region?

I work as the CEO of LIRNEasia, an independent think tank working on digital policy challenges of the Asia Pacific. The research I do and what my organisation does revolves around understanding how best to use AI and technology to improve the lives of people. So we work in improving the positive impacts and mitigating the harms. This builds on years of work at my organisation - research on the Asian countries featured in the Global Index on Responsible AI; hands-on work using algorithmic methods of privacy preservation; developing tools to mitigate some of the harms of algorithm-driven applications such as misinformation on social media platforms.

Could you share a project or initiative you’re especially proud of that is helping shape more responsible or inclusive AI?

Currently I’m the project lead/PI on the Responsible AI innovations Hub that is attempting to influence the ways in which innovations AI take into account responsibility, safety, inclusiveness and accountability. We are documenting instances of responsible AI innovations across Asia, and the conditions that lead to them. We are looking at the various input Ito AI systems (Such as data, investments, regulatory environment, compute) and looking at how each of these impacts responsible innovation. The idea is to catalyse more such innovations.

We area also looking at how AI is impacting the world of work and labor markets. And thinking about specific solutions that will help us reach a future that is just for the workers of Asia who are currently producing AI and also huge consumers of it.

What must change in policy, industry, or culture for AI to truly work for women and communities often left out of technological progress in the Global South?

More women at the table when AI is designed, developed, rolled out and evaluated. More feminist approaches to AI design, development, roll out and evaluation.

What advice would you give to young girls who want to shape the future of AI but don’t yet see themselves represented in the field?

Show up; Speak up; Find peers and mentors who can support you but also push you out of your comfort zone; When you make it to the top (and you get to define what ‘the top’ means), pass the baton on and lift others up.