Machines That Fail Us - Season 2, Episode 3: Who governs AI? Global challenges in addressing harm

In this episode, we delve into the global push to regulate artificial intelligence, as governments around the world are faced with the challenge to respond to its social and ethical challenges. With a focus on Latin America, Brazil in particular, we discuss how regulators are confronting the risks posed by deepfakes, online misogyny, and copyright violations, among other issues. AI regulation is rapidly becoming a global priority, as policymakers confront the ethical, legal, and societal consequences of increasingly powerful technologies. From misinformation to algorithmic discrimination, the risks posed by AI systems are no longer hypothetical; they are already influencing public discourse and challenging existing legal frameworks. In this episode, we turn our attention to Latin America, with a particular focus on Brazil, to understand how the region is responding to these challenges. These issues are not only technical but deeply social, intersecting with questions of gender, race, and power in digital spaces, and reminding us just how central and consequential AI "errors" can be. The debate currently unfolding in Brazil offers a lens into the broader struggle faced by many countries: how to assert digital sovereignty and protect their populations while keeping pace with a rapidly evolving technological landscape. In particular, we’ll examine how regulation must address some of the most insidious uses and misuses of AI, especially those connected to online misogyny.In this episode of Machines That Fail Us, we dive into this issue with Prof. Mariana Valente, who serves as an assistant professor at the Law School of the University of St. Gallen and is also a director and board member at Brazil’s InternetLab. Valente is a Brazilian lawyer and scholar, her work centers on the intersection of human rights and technology. Over the past decade, she has been actively engaged in research, writing, public speaking, and teaching on gender inequality in digital spaces, with a particular emphasis on online gender-based violence (OGBV) and the corresponding legal frameworks, policy responses, and law enforcement practices.