EP 9: Professor Yuval Shany | Human Rights in the Age of AI

EP 9: Professor Yuval Shany | Human Rights in the Age of AI

Guest: Professor Yuval Shany | Accelerator Fellow, Ethics in AI Institute, University of Oxford | Hersch Lauterpacht Chair in Public International Law | Former Chair, UN Human Rights Committee Professor Yuval Shany is one of the world's leading scholars of international law and human rights. He is the Hersch Lauterpacht Chair in Public International Law at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and previously served as Chair of the United Nations Human Rights Committee. His work focuses on international human rights law, international courts and tribunals, democratic governance, and the legal implications of emerging technologies. Topic: Human Rights in the Age of AI: Preserving Human Dignity and Agency In this episode, we explore: • Human rights in an AI-enabled world: Whether existing human rights frameworks remain fit for purpose as AI systems become increasingly embedded in public and private decision-making. • Human dignity and autonomy: What is at stake when decisions affecting individuals are delegated to opaque algorithmic systems, and whether there should be limits on such delegation. • The right to a human decision-maker: Whether individuals should retain a right to meaningful human involvement in decisions that affect their rights, opportunities and freedoms. • Accountability and transparency: The governance challenges that arise when AI systems influence outcomes but their reasoning cannot easily be explained, challenged or scrutinised. • AI and manipulation: How increasingly sophisticated AI systems may shape behaviour, influence beliefs and personalise information in ways that challenge individual autonomy. • Competing approaches to information governance: The tension between freedom of expression, misinformation regulation, content moderation and societal interests in different governance systems. • Global AI governance: Whether meaningful international coordination on AI is possible in a world characterised by different political systems, legal traditions and cultural values. • The future of human rights law: How international institutions and legal frameworks may need to evolve to address emerging technological risks while preserving fundamental rights and freedoms. • Human-centred governance: Why preserving human agency, dignity and accountability may become one of the defining governance challenges of the AI era. "How do we ensure that technology serves humanity while preserving the dignity, autonomy and rights that underpin democratic societies?" Episode length: 1 hour 15 minutes Connect: / https://www.linkedin.com/in/kamini-govender-942225159/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/kamini-govender-942225159/]

Navigating KING V (Episode 3): From Principles to Practice

From Principles to Practice | Kamini Govender | AI Ethics Navigator This is the final episode in the Navigating King V: AI Governance in South Africa series on AI Ethics Navigator. Episodes 1 and 2 explored the ethical foundations and board-level accountability introduced by King V, drawing on Ubuntu, impact materiality, and the non-delegable responsibility of boards when AI systems shape organisational decisions. This concluding episode addresses the remaining question boards are now facing: How is ethical AI governance actually implemented in practice? In this solo episode, Kamini Govender moves decisively from principle to execution, setting out how boards can translate King V’s ethical and governance expectations into workable governance mechanisms, clear accountability, and demonstrable assurance when AI systems are already embedded across organisations. Rather than focusing on theory or emerging regulation, this conversation centres on what boards must put in place now. In this episode, we explore: • Why King V shifts ethics from aspiration to demonstrable governance, and why values without mechanisms fail in practice. • How board accountability for AI differs from operational execution, and why “AI as an IT issue” is a governance failure. • The core governance structures boards need to oversee AI-driven decision-making, including ownership, visibility, decision rights, risk integration, and assurance. • How Ubuntu functions not only as an ethical philosophy, but as a practical governance lens shaping impact materiality, escalation thresholds, and board judgment. • What global AI governance practice is converging on, and why South Africa must adapt — not import — international frameworks. • The most common failures boards make when governing AI, and why ethics must be treated as auditable and evidence-based. This episode positions King V not as a compliance exercise, but as a test of whether boards can govern power, technology, and human impact with clarity and courage. Episode length: 28 minutes Series: Navigating King V: AI Governance in South Africa (Episode 3 of 3) Connect: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kamini-govender

Navigating King V (Episode 2): Board Responsibility and Ethical Oversight

Episode 2 of the Navigating King V series This episode continues a three-part series on AI governance in South Africa. Navigating King V: AI Governance in South Africa examines what South Africa’s updated corporate governance code means for ethics, accountability, and board oversight as AI systems increasingly shape organisational decision-making. The series explores King V not as a compliance exercise, but as a framework for ethical leadership under conditions of technological uncertainty. Guest: Carolynn Chalmers | CEO, Good Governance Academy Carolynn Chalmers is one of South Africa’s leading voices on corporate governance, ethical leadership, and board accountability. With a background spanning computer science, systems thinking, and governance practice, she works at the intersection of board oversight, global standard-setting, and real-world decision-making. Her work includes leadership roles in ISO governance standards and decades of experience advising boards on how governance frameworks translate into practical accountability, particularly as technology and AI reshape risk, responsibility, and power. In this episode, we explore: • What board responsibility and ethical oversight mean under King V as AI systems increasingly shape organisational decisions • Why AI is not an IT problem, but a governance and accountability challenge for boards • The limits of traditional risk and assurance frameworks when governing opaque, data-driven systems • How AI expands materiality beyond financial impact to include human dignity, fairness, and societal trust • The risks of adopting global AI governance frameworks without grounding them in South Africa’s governance realities • How boards can govern AI alongside cyber, sustainability, and enterprise risk without defaulting to checkbox compliance “You can delegate tasks, but you can never delegate accountability. That responsibility always sits with the board.” Carolynn Chalmers Episode length: 1 hour 14 minutes Series: Navigating King V: AI Governance in South Africa (Episode 2 of 3) Connect with Kamini: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kamini-govender-942225159/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/kamini-govender-942225159/]

Navigating King V (Episode 1): Ubuntu – A King V AI Governance Imperative

Episode 1 of the Navigating King V series This episode marks the start of a new three-part series on AI governance in South Africa. Navigating King V: AI Governance in South Africa examines what South Africa’s updated corporate governance code means for ethics, accountability, and board oversight as AI systems increasingly shape organisational decision-making. The series explores King V not as a compliance exercise, but as a framework for ethical leadership in conditions of technological uncertainty. Guest: Dr Ntokozo Mahlangu | Head of Operational Risk, Corporate & Investment Banking, Investec  Dr. Ntokozo Mahlangu is Head of Operational Risk for Corporate & Investment Banking at Investec, where he works at the intersection of risk management, governance, and emerging technology. He holds a PhD and has extensive experience spanning operational risk, wealth and investment operations, and banking across South Africa and the UK.  Beyond his technical expertise, Ntokozo’s work engages with how African philosophy and values can inform AI governance. His recent work explores financial inclusion through an AI lens, examining how technology can bridge South Africa's economic divides with empathy and contextual intelligence rather than simply automating exclusion at scale. He also serves on the strategic advisory board of The DaVinci Institute.   In this episode, we explore: • King V as moral inflection point: Why South Africa's updated corporate governance code represents an opportunity to reclaim moral leadership amid governance fatigue and trust deficit.  • Ubuntu philosophy explained: What "I am because we are" means for corporate governance, and why this uniquely South African philosophy of interconnectedness, dignity, and human responsibility now appears in formal governance frameworks.  • Beyond Western AI ethics: How Ubuntu offers a relational, community-centred alternative to individualistic frameworks of autonomy, fairness, and accountability—and what it surfaces that Western approaches miss.  • Impact materiality in practice: How King V shifts board accountability from profit-only to societal impact, requiring boards to measure success by how decisions affect communities, not just shareholders.  • Financial inclusion reimagined: Concrete examples of Ubuntu-centred AI design in financial services—including how AI can "see" informal economies, honour dignity in township resilience, and build credit models that recognize stokvels and spaza shops.  • Relational risk management: How Ubuntu philosophy surfaces new categories of AI risk—risks to human dignity, social cohesion, and community trust—that conventional operational risk frameworks miss.  • From compliance to moral courage: Why boards must move beyond checkbox governance to values-driven leadership, and what stakeholder service (not management) actually means in practice.  • Global South contribution: How South Africa can shape global AI governance by embedding community-centred values, and why indigenous knowledge systems must be producers, not just consumers, of AI frameworks.  • Implementation reality: Practical guidance for boards operationalizing Ubuntu principles under King V—from diagnostic questions to measuring impact beyond performative metrics.  • Education and future leaders: How universities and business schools must prepare students to carry Ubuntu principles into boardrooms through experiential learning and community engagement.  "Ubuntu is not just about South African values. It's actually a universal human value that emphasizes community, dignity, and shared humanity over hyper-individualistic, market-driven ethos." Dr. Ntokozo Mahlangu Episode length: 1 hour 32 minutes Series: Navigating King V: AI Governance in South Africa (Episode 1 of 3) Connect with Kamini:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/kamini-govender-942225159/

Episode 8: Guest: Jasmina Byrne | Chief of Foresight and Policy, UNICEF Innocenti – Global Office of Research and Foresight

Originally published: 19 November 2025   Guest: Jasmina Byrne | Chief of Foresight and Policy, UNICEF Innocenti – Global Office of Research and Foresight With over 25 years of experience in research, policy advocacy, programme management, and humanitarian action, she currently leads UNICEF's work on global foresight and anticipatory policy, covering topics such as frontier technologies, governance, macroeconomics, markets, society, and the environment. She is a lead author of UNICEF's annual foresight publication, Global Outlook for Children, and co-authored UNICEF's Manifesto on Children's Data Governance. Previously, she managed UNICEF's Office of Research portfolio on children and digital technologies, child rights, and child protection.   Topic: It Takes a Village: Governing AI for Children in the Digital Age   In this episode, we explore:   •Foresight as discipline: How UNICEF uses horizon scanning and scenario development to anticipate global trends and prepare for potential futures that impact children's lives.   •AI's promise and reality in developing countries: The gap between the democratization narrative and the actual challenges of internet access, infrastructure, cost, and biased data systems.   •Data governance in education: How EdTech companies collect and misuse children's data, with only 40% of personalized learning platforms in developing countries having data protection policies in place.   •Power dynamics in AI: The imbalance between tech companies in high-income countries and communities in the Global South, and the risk of techno-colonialism eroding local languages and cultural identity.   •Africa's demographic future: Why Africa's young population makes investment in local AI development, indigenous language models, and developer pipelines critical now.   •The ecosystem approach: How protecting children requires coordinated action from parents, teachers, tech companies, policy makers, and governments—because it takes a village to raise a child in the digital age.   •Parenting in the digital age: Practical guidance on balancing protection with autonomy, ensuring children develop digital literacy and resilience to navigate online risks.   •Building trust in technology: The importance of governance frameworks, data literacy, and age-appropriate design before scaling AI systems that children will use.   "It takes a village to raise a child. So when it comes to children and technology, children and AI, children and their data, we need to think about the role that various different people in their lives have to play from parents to teachers to company leaders to government policy makers—they all are actually responsible for children's lives." Jasmina Byrne   Episode length: 59 minutes    Connect: https://za.linkedin.com/in/kamini-govender-942225159 [https://za.linkedin.com/in/kamini-govender-942225159]