This week, Lindsey DeWitt Prat, PhD, Director at Bold Insight, will speak at EPIC Redux: AI Meets Human – Who’s Really In Charge?, an event hosted by The Research Thing. DeWitt Prat’s presentation, Decolonizing LLMs: An ethnographic framework for AI alignment, explores a peer-reviewed publication on the value of ethnographic insights in large language model (LLM) research. Findings from the collective research conducted alongside Olivia Nercy Ndlovu Lucas from Mantaray Africa, Christopher Golias from Google, and Mia Lewis, a user experience researcher and independent scholar, were first presented this past August at EPIC2024, a premier international conference in Los Angeles.   

In an age of rapidly evolving AI technologies, DeWitt Prat’s talk will explore how AI is utilized and understood across diverse technological and linguistic ecosystems, with a focus on Africa. This work emphasizes the need to move beyond traditional, often English-centric AI frameworks, advocating for a more inclusive and culturally sensitive approach to AI development.  

DeWitt Prat will participate in a panel discussion, joining leading experts in challenging conventional assumptions about AI and providing actionable insights for practitioners. Attendees will gain a deeper understanding of the role of ethnographic research in navigating AI’s impact on human connections.  

The event will take place on Tuesday, November 26, 2024, at the Government Digital Service in London. Visit the event page to learn more.

About EPIC
EPIC is a nonprofit organization and global community powered by members and volunteers. Working in diverse disciplines and roles, they are unified by an ethnographic approach to innovation that is anchored in deep understandings of culture and human behavior.   

About Bold Insight
Bold Insight is a UX and human factors research agency based in Chicago and London. We execute projects that span the product development life cycle, conducting user research that informs early product design and global human factors validation. We work with digital, next-generation technology—medical devices, mobile apps, IFUs, and customer journeys. Reach out!