Editors launch 'Don't ask AI, ask a peer' series ^{CEFR B2}

Editors at three organisations that focus on human rights and marginalised voices are responding to the growing use of large learning models known as artificial intelligence. The editorial was co-written by Ameya Nagarajan, Débora Prado and Hija Kamran and was only copy-edited for punctuation and spelling to preserve distinct voices. APC and its project GenderIT.org drew up an AI policy last year, inspired by and developed with Global Voices; both organisations explored questions about human voice, agency, creativity and labour as they considered policy options beyond simple bans.

The discussion led to a collaborative series titled Don’t ask AI, ask a peer, published by Global Voices together with APC.org and GenderIT.org. The series aims to re‑emphasise people-to-people knowledge sharing — communal exchange rooted in lived experience and local realities — arguing that generative AI has reduced such exchanges as people turn to automated tools instead of asking family, elders, coworkers and community members.

The series began with two basic questions posed like prompts to AI:

• Why is it vital to value human creativity and connection in the age of AI?
• What could be done to create a human rights approach to AI?

Authors and illustrators from different countries will answer. Their work will be edited and translated by people, include human emotions and contradictions, be remunerated, and carry clear acknowledgments. The editors invite peer exchange, feedback and debate. The series launches today and will be published throughout April on APC.org, GenderIT.org and globalvoices.org. Readers can subscribe to APC’s and Global Voices’ newsletters for updates.

The Association for Progressive Communications is a membership network focused on how the internet and ICTs can be shaped for social, gender and environmental justice. GenderIT.org is a feminist publication hosted by APC’s Women’s Rights Programme. Global Voices is an international community of writers, translators and human rights activists.