Looking to learn more about or engage with Mozilla Fellows and Awardees around the world? Keep your eye on the Mozilla Foundation blog to stay up-to-date with regular updates about these leaders and their work by reviewing the current and upcoming news and announcements below.

AI and internet health

News from current fellows and awardees

• East Africa: Kiswahili At the Center of Digital Advancement, Artificial Intelligence —featuring Common Voice fellow Kathleen Siminyu
• ChatGPT drafts law to regulate AI in Costa Rica, experts divided—featuring senior fellow Tarcizio Silva in The Economic Times
• AI Forensics: The Detectives Researching AI Harms—a profile of AI Forensics, a Mozilla Technology Fund grantee
• There’s Something Fishy in Our (Google) News Feed: Algorithmic Disinformation—a profile of Mozilla Technology Fund awardee CheckFirst
• Patients are Pooling Data to Make Diabetes Research More Representative—a profile of Data Futures Lab awardee Tidepool
• A Community-based Tool to Block Hateful Content on Social Media—a profile of Data Futures Lab partner, Tattle, and their project Uli—an intervention to halt gendered online hate in India.
• A Community-Based Approach To Data And Tech Governance In Namibia—by Senior Fellow in Tech Policy, Kristophina Shilongo
• Using Data to Confront ‘Digital Deserts’ and Connect More Black Americans—a profile of DataKind, a Mozilla Data Futures Lab awardee
• Zeno: An Interactive Tool For AI Model Evaluation—a profile of Zeno, a Mozilla Technology Fund awardee
• Evaluation Harness Is Setting the Benchmark for Auditing Large Language Models—a profile of Evaluation Harness, a 2023 Mozilla Technology Fund Awardee.
• Senior RCC fellow Dr. Chao Mbogho has been awarded the Global Perspective Responsible AI Fellowship - STIMSON. Her work during this fellowship will continue responsible computing education and take place between July and October 2023. She will take up this fellowship alongside Jibu Elias, RCC Fellow in India

Alum news

• AI is still trained with data full of racism and sexism—featuring alum Abeba Birhane in WIRED
• Humans Are Biased. Generative AI Is Even Worse—featuring Abeba Birhane in Bloomberg
• The AI debate is sweeping through the federal government—featuring alum Abeba Birhane in Washington Post
• Kenya is already the country that uses TikTok the most—featuring alum Odanga Madung in La Razon
• Meet the Humans Trying to Keep Us Safe From AI—featuring alum Deb Raji in WIRED
• Disinformation-for-hire: Kenyan Odanga Madung uses data to uncover a shadow economy—featuring alum Odanga Madung in Deutsche Welle
• Using bigger AI training data sets may produce more racist results—featuring alum Abeba Birhane in New Scientist
• Meet Reem Al-Masri: Helping Journalists Sharpen Their Understanding of Internet Governance—a profile of Reem Al-Masri, a Mozilla Fellow alum in the Tech and Society Fellowship program

Program Updates

• Mozilla and USAID are awarding 10 grants out of a pool of $250,000 to institutions in India; the awards will help shape the next generation of technologists. Read more about Responsible Computing Challenge applications In India.
• Mozilla welcomed Dr. Ziyaad Bhorat, New Responsible Computing Challenge Fellow. Dr. Bhorat will help educators in the U.S. develop curricula that blend computer science and ethics
• Mozilla is providing grants from $5,000 to $10,000 USD to individuals and organizations studying the impact of AI on communities in Eastern and Southern Africa. Learn more about Africa Innovation Mradi Research Grants.
• The Data Futures Lab’s new Infrastructure Fund will provide awards of up to $50,000 for tools that fuel a more fair data economy. Learn more and apply here.
• We have announced Kenya’s Inaugural Cohort of Responsible Computing Challenge Awardees. Learn who they are here. A total of $200,000 USD was awarded to eight universities that will embed ethics into their computer science curricula.
• In the lead up to MozFest House Kenya, the Africa Mradi team hosted a fireside chat on 28 June in partnership with Baraza Media Lab. The event explored the topic “Will Africa find more harm than good with AI?” and brought together esteemed panelists: Dr. Bright Gameli, Nanjira Sambuli and Mutembei Karuiki. The event brought together industry experts, civil society organisations and a diverse audience for thought-provoking discussions about AI in Africa, using Kenya as a case study.
• Following the Buzz event, the Africa Mradi Team is excited to announce MozFest House Kenya! Join us in Nairobi, 21 – 22 September 2023 at the Shamba Cafe. MozFest House Kenya is a regional gathering that will bring together builders, researchers, policymakers, activists, civil society organizations, and philanthropy to connect and explore critical issues related to a healthy internet and trustworthy AI. Tickets are available here.