Artificial Intelligence generates new wave of UN-recognized individuals displaced from homes
The United Nations University Center for Policy Research (UNU-CPR) has introduced two AI avatars named Amina and Abdalla, designed to educate the public about the realities faced by refugees and those involved in conflict.
Amina, portraying a woman who fled violence in Sudan and now resides in a refugee camp in Chad, offers a personalised narrative through conversations. Her character aims to represent the lived experience of refugees, providing an intimate insight into their struggles.
On the other hand, Abdalla is a fictional soldier modeled after combatants in the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Sudan. This avatar simulates the behaviour and decision-making patterns of an actual combatant, serving as a potential training tool for negotiators and mediators in high-stakes conflict resolution.
Initially developed as part of an academic project during a class on AI for Conflict Prevention, led by Eduardo Albrecht, a Columbia professor and UNU-CPR senior fellow, the avatars were created using HeyGen. The design and animation process involved creating accurate digital representations based on real-world contexts and behaviours relevant to the refugee crisis and conflict participants.
Users can interact with the avatars through a dedicated website, engaging in three-minute conversations that aim to foster empathy and improve public understanding. The avatars use AI to simulate realistic dialogue, offering a unique and immersive way to explore these human stories.
The project's goal is to spark conversation about the use of AI in humanitarian work. Eleanore Fournier-Tombs, a data scientist at UNU-CPR, stated that the project was designed to have independent academic research available to the UN.
However, some participants in the study have raised questions about the potential use of the avatars in humanitarian work. Matthew Gault reported that the responses of the avatars were described as generic and stilted. The paper acknowledges the limitation of the avatars being trained on UN reports rather than interviews with actual refugees.
Nevertheless, if Amina functions effectively, her rapid responses could be of great value. The paper, published by the UNU-CPR and titled "Does the United Nations Need Agents?", raises questions about the potential use of AI in humanitarian work, yet it also presents a novel approach to enhancing advocacy and donor engagement by providing a more accessible, personalised approach compared to traditional methods like reports or statistics.
Currently, anyone can test and talk to Amina and Abdalla for three minutes. The creation of these AI avatars marks a significant step in the use of technology for humanitarian purposes, and it will be interesting to see how they evolve and contribute to this field in the future.
These AI avatars, Amina and Abdalla, designed by the United Nations University Center for Policy Research (UNU-CPR), are being used to educate the public about the realities faced by refugees and conflict participants. While Amina, portraying a refugee, offers personalized narratives through conversations, Abdalla, modeled after a combatant, serves as a potential training tool for negotiators. Despite some concerns about their generic responses, which were based on UN reports rather than interviews, they represent a novel approach to humanitarian advocacy, leveraging technology like artificial-intelligence for a more accessible, personalized experience, thereby opening discussions about AI's role in general-news, politics, and humanitarian work.
