Department of Computer Science

Civic Agency in AI - CAAI

The CAAI (Civic Agency in AI) project aims to understand citizens’ algorithmic literacy, agency and participation in the design and development of AI services in the Finnish public sector in order to advance more democratic and citizen-centric digital infrastructures.
header image. Blobs in artistic style laid out.
Different aspects of the CAAI project represented by 6 hexagons. At the center is "Democratising Public AI services", surrounded by Participatory Design, Citizen Perspectives, AI Governance, Case Studies and Discourses around the AI Act.

The projects has 4 main research areas:

Discourses around AI Governance

The emergence of generative and general-purpose AI offers a timely window to examine the use of language around AI.

AI discourses show how society grapples with technological change, its risks and benefits, its regulation and governance, and the surrounding multi-stakeholder discussions.

We use a mixed-methods approach combining Natural Language Processing (NLP) techniques with qualitative methods of analysis, compiling a digital textual corpus of AI-related discussions in the European Union.

Participatory Design and Civic Empowerment in AI

We aim for a future where civil society is empowered with the introduction of algorithmic innovation in the public sector.

Our work supports the agency of decision-makers and civil society by exploring participatory methods and designing interfaces for AI-powered services.

We incorporate participatory design and action research drawing on Human-Computer Interaction and AI Ethics.

AI Governance and Regulatory Tools

We aim to understand the implications of the European AI Act for future AI governance and innovation.

We employ a mix of policy and computer science approaches to responsible AI, and examine AI regulatory sandboxes as experimental regulatory tools.

The research draws on both hard and soft law, delving into the AI Act, AI standards, technical reports, and expert consultations.

Social Action and Uncertainty in AI

As high-trust welfare states are turning to new efficiency-promising but highly uncertain technologies, it is important to ask how contesting values materialize around AI, and how trust is fostered in this process.

Our ongoing work examining these social processes builds on qualitative engagements with citizens and ethnographic fieldwork following public sector organizations in their AI innovation.

The project has received funding from the Kone Foundation’s program on Language, Power and Democracy and the Research Council of Finland.

Team

Kaisla Kajava

Doctoral Researcher

Antti Rannisto

Doctoral Researcher

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