Amid dramatic power asymmetries between those who deploy technologies, like technology companies and governments, and the people those technologies affect, there is an increasing call for “public participation” — that is, for the people who are most affected by technology’s design to guide a system’s creation and governance themselves. Yet their participation does not guarantee better results: there is a risk that public input will be ignored, misused, or used as a permission structure to justify bad outcomes.
Our first task is to map the state of the field: What methods have arisen in response to this call for public participation in AI? Next, through events and network-building, we must forge a community of practice to better surface critiques and lessons learned. Finally, we hope to apply and amplify models for participation and public engagement that best shift power.