About
Research
Media
Support

Possible Futures

Through this blog series, we explore what the world can look like when we design and deploy technology that centers the needs of our communities. These broad, near-future speculative pieces are designed to de-center dominant narratives and help us realize that things can be different. These are not alternative realities, they are possible futures.

Read Current Entry
Illustration of five people sitting around a round, light blue table. Behind them are what looks like the walls of a bus, with hanging straps for passengers to grip, and a view of a sunset over mountains. The people represent a variety of skin tones, ethnicities and backgrounds: two are Black, one woman wears a hijab, and they are performing activities such as reading, working on a laptop, and conversing with each other.

A Bus Model For Global, Human-Centered Education

Imagine a world where free, high-quality education is accessible to anyone, anywhere; where learning knows no boundaries of geography, financial means, or social circumstances; a world that celebrates the collective knowledge and skills of humanity across cultures.

Read the full story
Illustration with people seemingly floating, around a string with a plug. The background is purple with cirles that look like planets, and 2 swirls from the DAIR color pallete, yellow and brown. There are also little sketches of bikes and cars in the background.

Nobody Owns our Techno-Future

We explore what the world can look like when we design and deploy technology that centers the needs of our communities.

Read the full story
DAIR team members on their laptops around a big wooden table in an outdoor meeting. There is a palm tree in the background, and the walls of the house behind them are red. On the left, Nathan is looking into the camera and signing a peace sign.

Celebrating Our Second Anniversary

December 2, 2023 marked the 2nd anniversary of DAIR’s launch–and the 3rd anniversary of my ouster from Google.

Read the full post
Screenshot of digital event with thumbnails of Marwa Fatafta, Mona Shtaya, Matt Mahmoudi and Timnit Gebru in conversation. On the left side of the screen are the words #NoTechForApartheid. The background behind everyone's faces is pink, yellow, orange and white.

Summary of Our #NoTechForApartheid Event

Dr. Alex Hanna writes about our first anniversary celebration and racism which marks the establishment of borders and restrictions to freedom of travel. We want to hold that fact while also elevating the joy and celebration of our collective work in our first full year.

Read the full post
Image of Palestinians walking through destruction in Gaza City: the foreground is completely rubble, while far in the background you can see more buildings that are either collapsed or badly damaged. The sky is blue and clear.

Ceasefire Now!

Join us in demanding an end to Israeli apartheid and occupation, an end to Gaza genocide, and an end to Western complicity.

Read our full statement
Turkopticon logo with letters of 'Turkopticon' written in brown dots

PRESS RELEASE: Turkopticon and DAIR Applaud Congressional Letter on Data Worker Abuse

Tech giant must answer questions about the working conditions of data workers involved in training generative AI systems.

Read the full press release
Credit: Rens Dimmendaal & David Clode, Better Images of AI Fish reversed. On the left is the photo of a blue, yellow and white tropical fish swimming just above a sandy surface. On the right is a stylized, block reduction of the fish to its main colors and shapes: circles and rectangles in single colors. The whole thing is set on a yellow background.

Statement from the listed authors of Stochastic Parrots on the “AI pause” letter

The harms from so-called AI are real and present and follow from the acts of people and corporations deploying automated systems.

Read the full statement
Left: photo of a road in Costa Rica surrounded by trees and leading to a cloud-covered mountain under a blue sky. Top right: photo of the DAIR team in a meeting in a cozy-looking living space with pink walls. Bottom right: photo of the DAIR team crossing the street in front of a small building with orange walls and a pink roof.

Our First Anniversary Celebration

We’re happy to publish this report on the Distributed AI Research Institute's first retreat and our anniversary celebration event.

Read the full post

Sign up for our monthly newsletter