AI & Equality Pub-Talk with Hongjin Lin | “Come to us first”: Centering Community Organizations in Artificial Intelligence for Social Good Partnerships
June 5 | 3PM UTC
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Artificial Intelligence for Social Good (AI4SG) has emerged as a growing body of research and practice exploring the potential of AI technologies to tackle social issues. This area emphasizes interdisciplinary partnerships with community organizations, such as non-profits and government agencies. However, amidst excitement about new advances in AI and their potential impact, the needs, expectations, and aspirations of these community organizations–and whether they are being met–are not well understood. Understanding these factors is important to ensure that the considerable efforts by AI teams and community organizations can actually achieve the positive social impact they strive for.
Drawing on the Data Feminism framework, we explored the perspectives of community organization members on their partnerships with AI teams through 16 semi-structured interviews. Our study highlights the pervasive influence of funding agendas and the optimism surrounding AI’s potential. Despite the significant intellectual contributions and labor provided by community organization members, their goals were frequently sidelined in favor of other stakeholders, including AI teams. While many community organization members expected tangible project deployment, only two out of 14 projects we studied reached the deployment stage. However, community organization members sustained their belief in the potentialof the projects, still seeing diminished goals as valuable.
To enhance the efficacy of future collaborations, our participants shared their aspirations for success, calling for co-leadership starting from the early stages of projects. We propose data co-liberation as a grounding principle for approaching AI4SG moving forward, positing that community organizations’ co-leadership is essential for fostering more effective, sustainable, and ethical development of AI.
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Hongjin Lin is a 3rd-year Ph.D. Candidate in Computer Science, advised by Professor Krzysztof Gajos. Her research lies at the intersection of AI and social justice, through both qualitative critical evaluation and technology development. She draws on feminist epistemology like Data Feminism and thoughtful community-based research methods that center relationships with people and nature. Hongjin was born and raised in Guangzhou, China, and moved to the US for her undergraduate degree in Mathematics and Computer Science at Occidental College. She received her master’s degree in Data Science from the London School of Economics and Political Sciences.
Before Harvard, she worked as a research fellow at Stanford Law School, developing and evaluating Machine Learning systems for environmental policy enforcement in partnership with the EPA. Outside of research, she has completed projects with nonprofits in China, the US, and Malawi and worked as a data for development intern at UNDP in New York and Costa Rica. She is a dedicated yogi, dancer, community-living member, plant mama, and a happy camper whenever she gets the chance.
Last modified: April 16, 2025