The webinars will also address some of the challenges accompanying the growing use of AI, including data security and confidentiality, bias, transparency and accountability, and unequal access to AI tools, data, and infrastructure. Particular attention will be given to what these developments mean for demographic research and data systems in different parts of the world, including the Global South.

Each webinar will combine brief presentations with moderated discussion and questions from the audience. Participants are encouraged to help shape the conversation by submitting, when they register, questions or topics they would particularly like the speakers to address. Questions may relate to the overall theme of AI and demography or to the topics of individual speakers. These advance submissions will help identify issues of particular interest to participants and inform the moderated discussion.

Register separately for each webinar.

Part 1: Friday, 16 October – 14:00–15:30 UTC 
(New-York: 10:00 am / Paris: 16:00)

Moderator: Vissého Adjiwanou, Université du Québec à Montréal

Speakers:

Ridhi Kashyap, University of Oxford

• Is AI a fundamental shift for digital and computational demography?

Emilio Zagheni, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research (MPIDR)

• From the Data Revolution to Generative AI: Where does demography stand? 

Andrew Tatem, WorldPop, University of Southampton

• The potential and limitations of GeoAI for demographic estimation and mapping

Matthew Hauer, Florida State University and Aaru Inc.

• Promises and perils of AI for population simulation and prediction

Part 2: Thursday, 22 October – 14:00–15:30 UTC 
(New-York: 10:00 am / Paris: 16:00)

Moderator: Vissého Adjiwanou, Université du Québec à Montréal

Speakers:

Evans Omondi, African Population Health Research Council (APHRC)

• The value and potential biases of AI for collecting demographic information in the absence of DHS and other established survey data

Isaac Maddow-Zimet, Guttmacher Institute

• Challenges of using AI/LLMs with sensitive data and code

Tyler McCormick, University of Washington

• Rapidly changing data regimes and the implications for the use of AI in demographic research

Madeleine Short Fabic, ICF, The Demographic and Health Surveys Program

• Uses of AI in the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS)

For more information, speakers bios and registration, click here.