AI Governance: Call for Proposals on Reporting Practices

Everything is about AI now. On a general discourse level, a prophecy is being shoved down our throats telling us it is the one thing that is going to fundamentally change life as we know it. The prophecy comes at us wrapped in the language of utopia and a tech giant’s latest market offering. Today, the capabilities of the computational power behind AI models are unprecedented, so much so that it may very well rival the cognitive skills of the human mind. AI is going to solve the mysteries of disease and eradicate world poverty, we are told. Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, has declared the arrival of “singularity,” the concept of machine intelligence surpassing human intelligence, two times now and still counting. Demis Hassabis, the CEO of Google’s DeepMind, is the more cautious one: he only promises we are “near” it. Based on these claims, hundreds of billions of dollars of capital are being thrown into AI-related investments, roughly 1 percent of global GDP. That is not counting the overall compulsion of businesses from all over the world to switch to AI, mainly out of fear of missing out on something big. The implications are profound. Fantasies of replacing human labor that have been the obsession of capitalism for the past two centuries are reaching new heights with AI’s support. Data centers are being erected everywhere, doubling the global demand for copper. Operating them requires massive amounts of energy, leaving a larger carbon footprint on an already strained planet. Cooling them requires massive amounts of water. A Bloomberg analysis concluded that “two-thirds of new data centers built or in development since 2022 are in places already gripped by high levels of water stress.” All this for an industry that has not only failed to generate revenue so far but that doesn’t even have any idea how it could do so in the future. Despite all this, very little critical engagement is given to AI — except maybe the environmental impact. Egypt is no stranger to this. In 2024, Egypt saw US$278 million in data center investments. The figure is projected to grow to $694 million by 2030. Every day in the press, you notice startups from different sectors and fields promising they will be providing AI-oriented solutions. “How exactly?” you might ask. No one actually knows. This is an open call to invite those who are interested in this sort of critical engagement, both in the global context and with a focus on Egypt. While we do not want to restrict proposals, we are looking for approaches that open new ways of thinking about AI’s impact on the fundamentals of our lives. That means the proposals could be on fundamental subjects — labor, governance, health, environmental impact or entertainment — as much as on ways of approach — people’s history with AI, the political economy of AI or AI in the Global South. At the core, we are interested in trying to demystify the prophetic discourse surrounding AI and to look at the politics and power behind the claims that help themselves to grandeur. What really is behind this catchall that contains so much yet so little and that has thrust itself into every aspect of our lives? As much as we are looking for concrete proposals, we also invite those who are interested in developing a practice of reporting on AI in Egypt to reach out — let’s have a conversation on how this could look like and what Mada Masr can provide to help. Please reach out by email to [emailprotected] , with a subject line of “Down with AI.” You have a right to access accurate information, be stimulated by innovative and nuanced reporting, and be moved by compelling storytelling. Subscribe now to become part of the growing community of members who help us maintain our editorial independence. Know more