Global Institute

for the Learning Society

Combining human and machine learning for AI that truly benefits society. We build bridges between communities, sectors and disciplines to foster co-creation of responsible, robust AI grounded in societal context.

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“We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.”
— Martin Luther King, Jr.

Our Approach

Through community-based participatory systems science, GILS serves as a flywheel and hub to build the systems thinking and knowledge production capacity communities need to co-create a sustainable AI ecosystem.

Sterman, “Learning from Evidence in a Complex World”, 2006

Our fate lies in our ability to collaboratively learn in the dynamically complex world we co-create as we strive to survive and thrive.

How to Build a Learning Society

  • Communities choose the problems , opportunities and outcomes that matter most, ensuring solution development aligns with real societal needs.

  • Invest in developing the skills, tools, and infrastructure communities need to sustainably lead in responsible AI innovation.

  • Build trust and sustainable progress by balancing the urgency of AI challenges with long-term, community-centered growth.

  • Apply systems thinking to deeply understand interconnected challenges and design more effective and sustainable interventions and solutions.

  • Knowledge is a key lever of power. Produce relevant, structured, and legible knowledge that can help ground AI and other interventions in societal reality.

Reach Out
Arrow pointing to the right with the text 'Next' inside a black and white sign.
A graphic logo with stylized Chinese characters in blue and light blue shades.

  • "To be truly visionary, we have to root our imagination in our concrete reality while simultaneously imagining possibilities beyond that reality."

    bell hooks

  • "Be hard on structures, not people.”

    john a. powell

  • "The next Bhudda might be a community."

    Thich Nhat Hanh

  • "Computational depth without sociological depth is 'superficial learning."

    - Ruha Benjamin