Impacts of AI on Multilingual and Multiracial Democracy

Exploring the real-world challenges of multilingual AI and how technology and policy can advance greater language equity.
About this Event

The Multiracial Democracy Project and the Bernard Center for Law & Technology at the George Washington University Law School along with the Center for Democracy & Technology are co-hosting a half-day symposium that will examine the capabilities and limitations of multilingual large language models; how these technologies affect civil rights, opportunity, and dignity; and the policy and governance approaches needed to support a multilingual and multiracial democracy.

The symposium will feature two moderated panel discussions with experts from academia, civil society, and government. The discussions will examine the technical and policy challenges to achieving language equity, as well as the real-world experiences of speakers of different languages and the barriers they encounter when using multilingual AI technologies.

Featured Speakers

• Roy Austin — Director, Howard Law Artificial Intelligence Initiative, Howard University School of Law
• Roberta Braga — Founder and Executive Director, Digital Democracy Institute of the Americas
• David Broniatowski — Professor, Engineering Management and Systems Engineering and Computer Science (by courtesy); Deputy Director, NIST-NSF Institute for Trustworthy AI in Law and Society (TRAILS), George Washington University
• Camille Harris — Assistant Professor, Department of Computer Science, University of San Francisco
• Elizabeth Laird — Director, Equity in Civic Technology, Center for Democracy & Technology
• Thema Munroe-White — Associate Professor of Artificial Intelligence and Innovation Policy, Schar School of Policy and Government and Department of Computer Science, George Mason University
• Aditya Vashistha — Assistant Professor of Information Science; Director, Cornell Global AI Initiative, Cornell University
• Gloria Washington — Associate Professor, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Howard University

The program will be held in person at the George Washington University Law School Moot Court Room, with a virtual option available for those unable to attend in person. In-person capacity is limited, and advance registration is encouraged.

Doors will open at 9:00 a.m., with breakfast available before the program begins. Guests should enter GW Law through the H Street entrance at 2000 H Street NW. Public parking is available nearby at the G Street Garage (2028 G Street NW), with entrances on 20th and 21st Streets between F and G Streets.

Following the symposium, lunch will be provided from 1:00–2:00 p.m. for in-person attendees.