If you want to develop innovative AI solutions, you should focus not on the majority of users, but on disadvantaged groups. This is the thesis put forward by Oriane Pierrès, a postdoctoral researcher at the Digital Society Initiative (UZH), in her article on Inside IT.
Many technologies that are now part of everyday life, such as electric toothbrushes, blurred backgrounds in video conferences, and voice assistants, were originally developed for, with, or by people with disabilities. The curb cut effect: solutions for specific needs ultimately benefit everyone.
For universities developing AI tools for their students, the question arises: Who are these tools actually made for? Using the example of UZH’s AI Buddy, the column shows how participatory and universal design can help create AI applications that exclude no one.