Artificial Intelligence is advancing rapidly and already shaping economies, politics, and daily life. While these technologies offer opportunities, they also raise serious risks for humanity - from surveillance, misinformation and fake news, labour disruption and increased inequality, and potential risks to human safety.
SEAD's mission has always been to confront global injustice and environmental threats, and to connect local communities to global issues. AI is no exception: its benefits and harms are unevenly distributed, with vulnerable groups often bearing the costs.
Educate and convene: Hosting workshops and discussions that link AI risks to wider struggles for social and environmental justice.
Support local action: Funding and empowering grassroots projects that respond to AI's social and economic impacts.
Research and report: Producing research and reports that help us understand the risks of AI and how to mitigate them.
Connect global and local: Sharing research and building solidarity across borders to ensure communities in Scotland and worldwide can shape how AI develops.
This new line of work continues SEAD's ethos of radical approaches to urgent challenges: making local issues global, and global ones local. By engaging with AI risks today, we work to safeguard justice, sustainability, and human dignity for tomorrow.