Community Jameel, FCDO and IDRC partner with J-PAL and IDinsight to launch AI Evidence Alliance for Social Impact in Cape Town

CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA – Community Jameel, in partnership with the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL), the British Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), the Canadian International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and IDinsight, announced today the AI Evidence Alliance for Social Impact (AEASI), a GBP 2.75 million initiative to advance the evidence-informed deployment of artificial intelligence (AI) solutions for social good in Africa and Asia.

Part of a wider USD 7.5 million collaboration with Google.org to support J-PAL in conducting AI impact evaluations, AEASI was announced in Cape Town at the AI for Africa Conference, hosted by the South African G20 presidency, the African Union and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).

Advancing the evidence-informed deployment of AI for social good

AI will have tremendous impacts on society, such as helping workers be more productive, improving disease diagnosis and mitigating the impacts of extreme weather events through better forecasting.

At the same time, it also has the potential to exacerbate inequality and harm vulnerable populations by displacing jobs, spreading misinformation and increasing discrimination against marginalised communities.

Bringing together AI solution developers, policymakers, civil society and social science researchers, AEASI will fund research to generate evidence on the social benefits and harms of AI solutions in Africa and Asia, identify where AI can drive greater impact, champion locally-led research and scale effective solutions.

Kanishka Narayan, British minister for AI and online safety, said: “AI has the power to fuel growth, build trust and transform lives - and every country should share in that. That’s why we’re backing African-led innovation that puts people first, tackles real-world challenges, and builds global resilience.

"By working with countries like South Africa, we’re making AI safer, fairer and more inclusive – and helping communities shape the future on their terms.”

George Richards, director of Community Jameel, said: “AI has the potential to help tackle some of the world’s most pressing challenges, but we need evidence of which AI solutions work effectively, safely and fairly in order to maximise its impact.

"We are excited to be launching this new alliance to help generate the rigorous evidence we need and scale effective AI solutions to benefit communities around the world.”

Maggie Gorman Velez, vice president, strategy, regions and policies at IDRC, said: “Artificial intelligence holds extraordinary potential, but only if the tools, knowledge and power to shape it are accessible to all – that includes contextually grounded research and evidence on what works and what does not.

"That is why IDRC is proud to be supporting this new evaluation work as part of our ongoing commitment to the responsible scaling of proven safe, inclusive, and locally relevant AI innovations.”

Iqbal Dhaliwal, global executive director of J-PAL and co-leader of AEASI, said: “J-PAL has a long history of evaluating innovative technology and its ability to improve people’s lives. While AI has incredible potential, we need to maximise its benefits and minimise possible harms.

"We’re grateful to Community Jameel, FCDO and IDRC for their catalytic investment to launch AEASI, which will help us do exactly that by continuing to expand evidence on the impacts of AI innovations.”  

Alex Diaz, head of AI for social good, Google.org, said: “We’re thrilled to collaborate with Community Jameel, FCDO, IDRC and J-PAL on our partnership for AI evidence. AI has great potential to benefit all people but we urgently need to study what works, what doesn’t, and why if we are to realise this potential.”

A key initiative of AI4D

AEASI is a key initiative of AI for Development (AI4D), a programme launched by the British and Canadian governments in 2023 to foster safe, inclusive and responsible AI ecosystems that empower people and accelerate progress on pressing development challenges across Africa and Asia.

Aiming to adopt a flexible and adaptive approach, AEASI will draw on J-PAL’s leading methodology in promoting enhanced policies rooted in rigorous evidence to translate findings into action that will improve the lives of millions across the world.

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