Autonomy, Diversity & Disability: Everyday Practices of Technology (ADDEPT)
Artificial Intelligence is now everywhere. Smartphones hear and respond to our voices. They capture images and tell us what they see. They recognise faces in a crowd and produce meaningful answers to questions.
Yet these powerful effects depend on the ways Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems are trained. Data that fails to represent the diversity of human societies can lead to damaging bias in how these systems operate.
Run at Western Sydney University, the ADDEPT project looks to understand how diverse communities use technology in their everyday life. It examines how and when bias and other technology issues impede, frustrate or disadvantage two distinct groups: people with disability and people from culturally diverse backgrounds.
We're not only interested in technology's pitfalls. Many people from these communities benefit from technological advances. They also find ways to adapt and work around technological limits in ways that are often individual and creative and not always documented.
Greater evidence of these practices can help address bias and advance a more inclusive technological environment:
- Communities can use this evidence to advocate and to share their own innovations in how technology is applied.
- Researchers and companies can improve on the ways AI and other technologies are designed and developed.
- Service organisations can prepare guides and workarounds to help overcome technology gaps.
- Governments can set policies that demand greater recognition and inclusion of social groups often marginalised and excluded from technology user groups and training data.
Many people, groups and organisations are looking to study and address these issues. The ADDEPT project brings a specific focus to groups in the South West and North East suburbs of Sydney – areas with large migrant populations, increasingly reliant upon AI and other advanced technology in their daily lives.
Researchers:
- Professor Karen Soldatic (ICS)
- Associate Professor Liam Magee (ICS)
- Professor Paul James (ICS)
- Snow Li (Your Side Australia)
- Di McClaughlin (Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre)
- Rachel Haywood (Western Sydney Migrant Resource Centre)
- Rachael Kiang (Gallery Lane Cove + Creative Studios)
- Lida Ghahremanlou (Microsoft Corporation)
Funding: Australian Research Council (opens in a new window), Linkage Project
Partners: Your Side Australia (opens in a new window); Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre (opens in a new window); Western Sydney Migrant Resource Centre; Gallery Lane Cove + Creative Studios (opens in a new window); Microsoft Corporation (opens in a new window)
Period: 2020-2026
Project website: YouTube page (opens in a new window)
Contact: Professor Karen Soldatic
Publications
James, P., Lal, J., Liao, A., Magee, L. and Soldatic, K. (2023), ' Algorithmic decision-making in social work practice and pedagogy : confronting the competency/critique dilemma', Social Work Education, doi.org/10.1080/02615479.2023.2195425
Nectoux, S., Magee, L. and Soldatic, K. (2023) 'Sensing technologies, digital inclusion, and disability diversity' Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, Volume 28, Issue 5, September 2023, zmad026, https://doi.org/10.1093/jcmc/zmad026
Robertson, S., Magee, L. and Soldatic, K. (2022), 'Intersectional inquiry, on the ground and in the algorithm', Qualitative Inquiry, vol 28, no 7, pp 814 - 826.
Magee, L., Ghahremanlou, L, Soldatic, K., Roberston, S. (2021) 'Intersectional Bias in Causal Language Models', https://arxiv.org/abs/2107.07691
Soldatic, K., Magee, L. and Robertson, S. (2019), 'Temporal negotiations of social inclusion: temporality, mobility, and encounter in disabled people's lifeworlds: commentary on "Using the concept of encounter" (Bigby & Wiesel, 2018)', Research and Practice in Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, vol 6, no 1, pp 52 - 57.
Soldatic, K., Magee, L., James, P., Partoredjo, S. and Mann, J. (2020), 'Disability and migration in urban Australia : the case of Liverpool', Australian Journal of Social Issues, vol 55, no 4 , pp 456 - 473.
Resources
Story books in the ADDEPT project:
 | Chung, M. T., Liao, A., and Soldatić, K. (2023). Languages, learning and inclusion, Western Sydney University, Penrith. DOI: 10.26183/j4nv-yk68 |
 | Chung, M. T., Liao, A., Soldatić, K., and Magee, L. (2023). Languages, learning and inclusion - AI alternative text edition, Western Sydney University, Penrith. DOI:10.26183/bv22-kv79 Download PDF: English | Arabic | Chinese Traditional | Chinese Simplified | Vietnamese |
 | Grundy, L., Liao, A., and Soldatić, K. (2023). Lifelong learning and remembering Sadie Daher, Western Sydney University, Penrith. DOI: 10.26183/404a-b960 Download PDF: English | Arabic | Chinese Traditional | Chinese Simplified | Vietnamese |
 | Grundy, L., Liao, A., and Soldatić, K. (2023). Lifelong learning and remembering Sadie Daher - AI alternative text edition, Western Sydney University, Penrith. DOI: 10.26183/9yz2-g202 Download PDF:English | Arabic | Chinese Traditional | Chinese Simplified | Vietnamese |
 | Grundy, L., Liao, A., Soldatić, K., and Magee, L. (2023). My story of lifelong learning, Western Sydney University, Penrith. DOI: 10.26183/a3y9-9469 Download PDF: English | Arabic | Chinese Traditional | Chinese Simplified | Vietnamese |
 | Grundy, L., Liao, A., Soldatić, K., and Magee, L. (2023). My story of lifelong learning - AI alternative text edition, Western Sydney University, Penrith. DOI: 10.26183/0kbc-zn23 Download PDF: English | Arabic | Chinese Traditional | Chinese Simplified | Vietnamese |
 | Trieu, L., Liao, A., and Soldatić, K. (2023). Gaming, driving and independence, Western Sydney University, Penrith. DOI: 10.26183/jwdq-xg54 Download PDF: English | Arabic | Chinese Traditional | Chinese Simplified | Vietnamese |
 | Trieu, L., Liao, A., Soldatić, K., and Magee, L. (2023). Gaming, driving and independence - AI alternative text edition, Western Sydney University, Penrith. DOI: 10.26183/f9kn-1t95 Download PDF: English | Arabic | Chinese Traditional | Chinese Simplified | Vietnamese |
 | Shekaran, N., Liao, A., and Soldatić, K. (2023). Autonomy, freedom and mobility, Western Sydney University, Penrith. DOI: 10.26183/t2qf-0970 Download PDF: English | Arabic | Chinese Traditional | Chinese Simplified | Vietnamese |
 | Shekaran, N., Liao, A., and Soldatić, K. (2023). Autonomy, freedom and mobility - alternative text edition, Western Sydney University, Penrith. DOI: 10.26183/94rz-3e98 Download PDF: English | Arabic | Chinese Traditional | Chinese Simplified | Vietnamese |
About these books:
The digital narratives were co-created with participants across a set of online and face-to-face workshops in addition to focus groups and follow-up one-to-one interviews. Each of the participants worked with the project team to examine, explore and create these digital accessible books of their personal experiences with everyday technologies to share the impact of such technologies upon their daily lives.
Over a period of two years, research participants were able to critically engage with AI technologies and create these books to publicly disseminate their diverse experiences with the aim of enabling others to learn from their personal experiences. The stories are developed from the narratives of the participants, using AI technologies such as Mid Journey to generate illustrations and Chat GPT to develop the alternative text that describes the illustrations.
All stories are available in both PDF, EPUB, alternative text (online) and text to speech (online) format. The online copies are can be accessed via the Book Creator Website through the following links / QR code:
All stories are also automatically translated through Google Translate to other languages (PDF only): Arabic, Chinese Traditional, Chinese Simplified and Vietnamese.
