This panel explores how technologists and activists across the Global South are reclaiming artificial intelligence as a tool for social justice, resistance, and care. Moderated by Uygar Özesmi, the session features Kenzo Soares, Amanda Pretzel Claro, Veronyka “Travahacker” Gimenes, and Pamela Gil-Salas, who present grounded projects emerging from Brazil’s cooperative and activist tech ecosystems. From AI developed by marginalized tech workers to community-driven data initiatives and tools for defending LGBTQIA+ communities against online violence, these presentations illuminate how alternative models of AI governance are already taking shape. Together, they ask what AI can become when built from below—rooted in solidarity, democratic control, and the collective imagination of those historically excluded from its design. Moderator: Malu Villela.
Speakers
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Uygar Özesmi Founder & Instigator of Good4Trust.org
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Amanda Claro Ph.D. Student in Organization Studies, Fundação Getulio Vargas, São Paulo School of Business Administration
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Kenzo Soares Seto ICDE research fellow at The New School, and Postdoctoral Fellow, Yale Law School
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Pamela Gil-Salas Doctoral researcher at the Umeå Institute of Design
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Malu Villela Lecturer in Management at Essex Business School, University of Essex
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Veronyka “Travahacker” Gimenes Director, Código Não Binário