The Dialogue for Desirable AI Project received the AI ELSI Award (Perspective Division) from the Japanese Society for Artificial Intelligence

On May 29, 2025, “Dialogue for Desirable AI Project” by the B’AI Global Forum received the AI ELSI Award (Perspective Division) from the Japanese Society for Artificial Intelligence (JSAI).

AI ELSI Award (Perspective Division)

The AI ELSI Award recognises diverse activities related to AI ethics and the relationship between AI and society. It is administered by the Ethics Committee of the Japanese Society for Artificial Intelligence. Now in its third iteration, this year’s ELSI Award was divided into three categories: the Perspective Division, the Practice Division, and a Special Division.

Among them, the Perspective Division—of which the Dialogue for Desirable AI Project was the recipient—honours initiatives that offer outstanding ethical perspectives on the future direction of AI research. Eligible activities include not only academic papers but also workshops, conferences, and media productions. The selection process was carried out by a judging panel composed of members of the JSAI Ethics Committee and experts from both within and outside the academic society.

About the Awarded Project

Project Title: “Dialogue for Desirable AI Project”

This project was a collaborative dialogue-based initiative jointly organised by the University of Tokyo’s B’AI Global Forum, the Center for Science and Thought at the University of Bonn, the Center for the Future of Intelligence at the University of Cambridge, and the University of Europe for Applied Sciences. From October 2024 to January 2025, it hosted a 10-part online seminar series entitled “Cross-Cultural Approaches to Desirable AI”, attracting a wide range of participants from both academia and civil society.

The project realised the following key initiatives:

Dialogue between Academia and Civil Society
Going beyond technical discussions, the project engaged citizens from diverse backgrounds in dialogues grounded in theoretical frameworks such as Indigenous AI and Feminist AI. By addressing ethical issues and social impacts of AI and questioning the cultural biases and social structures embedded in AI development and use, the project promoted participatory and deliberative ethical discourse.
Global Collaboration and Dissemination
In addition to collaboration among research institutions in Japan, Germany, and the UK, researchers from African countries also participated, enabling the sharing of locally rooted perspectives on technology from a global viewpoint. The project also emphasised sustained dissemination through initiatives such as the public release of video archives and the planned publication of a special issue in an academic journal.
Reconstructing AI Narratives
Moving beyond the dystopia/utopia binary, the project proposed realistic and inclusive visions for the future. It created a platform to explore the limitations and possibilities of AI technology from multiple perspectives, taking into account societal challenges such as disability, inequality, sustainability, the digital afterlife industry (DAI), and legal regulations surrounding creative activities and intellectual property.

In recognition of these efforts and with expectations for further international development, the project was selected as an awardee.

The project will continue its activities, with the second seminar series scheduled to begin in November 2025. Furthermore, the publication of a special issue compiling the academic outcomes of the seminar series is also planned.