Stakeholder engagement in relation to the development of AI

Stakeholder engagement in relation to the development, use, and modification of AI

Abstract:
Artificial intelligence is increasingly shaping decisions, practices, and experiences across society. Yet AI systems do not emerge, operate, or evolve independently. They are developed, used, interpreted, and modified through complex interactions among diverse stakeholders, including designers, developers, organizational leaders, public institutions, domain experts, and citizens. Meaningful stakeholder engagement has therefore become a critical prerequisite for ensuring that AI systems are trustworthy, sustainable, and socially responsible.

This panel examines the role of stakeholder engagement throughout the AI lifecycle, including the development, use, and ongoing modification of AI and other digital systems. Bringing together perspectives from responsible AI, design, and organizational research, the panel explores how human values, expertise, governance, and data practices shape AI technologies and their societal impacts. Particular attention will be given to questions of trust, accountability, participation, and the challenges of creating AI systems that are both effective and socially responsible.

Panel members:

Elisabeth M. Adams (DBA doctorate of business administration) is a Responsible AI Advisor and Educator, as well as guest visiting researcher at Humlab during 2026. Elizabeth is the author of "In the Age of Artificial Intelligence: Choosing Purpose Before Code”, and Chief Engagement Officer at the MN Responsible AI Institute. 
She works at the intersection of Artificial Intelligence, leadership, and humanity. For years, she has advised institutional leaders navigating consequential AI decisions, moments when speed was high, options were constrained, and the stakes extended far beyond the room. Over time, her work evolved from guiding implementation to examining the deeper human questions beneath AI adoption, responsibility, and consequence.

Heather Wiltse (PhD) is associate professor and deputy head of department at Umeå Institute of Design, Umeå University. Her research aims to (re)direct the potential of design to scaffold diverse and sustainable good lives, with a particular focus on the role of digital things in experience and society. This research agenda is interdisciplinary, but anchored in design theory and philosophy. She is co-author of Changing Things: The Future of Objects in a Digital World (with Johan Redström, Bloomsbury 2019); and editor of Relating to Things: Design, Technology and the Artificial (Bloomsbury, 2020). Heather serves as senior editor for the Designing journal and associate editor of the Journal of Human-Technology Relations.

Parisima Alaie is a PhD student in Informatics. Parisima examines how organizations create the knowledge foundations that AI relies on. Data is often portrayed as given or the ''new oil'', yet it must be interpreted and validated by people. Studying healthcare and road maintenance with municipalities, Parisma explores how these public organizations without stable data definitions decide what counts as trustworthy data, manage uncertainty and balance expertise with technology. The results aim to improve data governance and support reliable AI developments.

Moderator: Karin Danielsson, Humlab