Artificial intelligence and autonomous systems are increasingly becoming part of our everyday lives. From healthcare and education to transportation, agriculture and public administration, these technologies are beginning to influence decisions that directly affect individuals and communities.
But as we make machines more capable of taking decisions and actions independently, an important question deserves greater attention: who remains accountable?
This talk explores the importance of open-source AI and responsible AI governance from a human-centred perspective. Drawing on nearly two decades of involvement in the open-source ecosystem, including contributions to Ubuntu, Google Summer of Code mentoring, accessibility initiatives and more recent work in human-centred AI, the session examines why openness must extend beyond access to software and models.
It will discuss the importance of transparency, community participation, accountability, accessibility, inclusion and meaningful human oversight in the development and deployment of AI and autonomous systems.
The session will also explore how open-source communities can help democratise AI innovation, prevent excessive concentration of technological power and encourage responsible adoption, particularly in diverse societies such as India.
Rather than discussing algorithms or implementation details, this talk will focus on the people, institutions and communities affected by these technologies.
The central argument is simple: The future of AI should not be measured only by how intelligent our machines become, but also by how responsibly we use that intelligence.