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By Adele Dang, Menzies Foundation AI for Good Fellow 2025
Have you ever played Among Us?
It’s a game which, long story short, is Mafia 2.0. Except there isn’t a mafia, but a minion-sized, assassin-esque astronaut (?). Back when the game was popularised, I dreaded being assigned the role of the imposter. Why would I want to stand out in that way?
My experience at the Global Voices pre-departure briefings in Canberra sometimes felt like a real-world simulation of Among Us (minus the assassinations and space element). Attending back-to-back meetings with some of Australia’s leading AI experts with only hours of research into algorithmic bias, no background in computer science, engineering or technology and too much background in the humanities made me feel unqualified.
Why was I chosen to be an AI For Good Fellow? Would they know that I had no idea how to code? Would they know I had to watch dumbed-down videos explaining what Language Learning Models were?
This blossoming imposter syndrome fuelled several breakdowns during the three days in Canberra, especially on the second day. I hung onto the experts’ words like gospel, hoping to strike gold. I was willing to scrap my entire policy proposal not because I had found another problem within the realm of AI I resonated with, but because I felt like I didn’t deserve to care about algorithmic bias as much as I did when facing all these experts. My reason for choosing my policy topic was on shaky grounds.
What did I know?
Nothing.
And what did they know?
Everything.
And it wasn’t just because I knew nothing about AI. It was also because I was young. I felt the weight of my inexperience forcing my body to curl into itself.
It was the visit to Parliament House on the third day that I felt my back straightening up. Our conversations with members of parliament revealed that despite their vastly different leanings along the political spectrum, they were united in their consensus that AI was an unknown beast - one that they were struggling to tackle.
How could this be? How could it be that even our leaders didn’t know what to do?
Well, they’re just following the trend. Because even leaders in other countries are stumped.
Take a look at the opposite approaches of the EU and the United States. The EU’s implementation of its AI Act represents a regulatory manhunt, hellbent on ensuring each and every AI system deployed fits neatly into its categorical risk framework. Conversely, America has again championed itself as the mother of innovation. Excessive regulation like that of the EU will only stifle AI creation, it insists.
And all this was affirmed a couple of days ago at the Paris AI Action Summit, whose outcome was labelled by The Guardian as representative of ‘global disunity’.
Yes, it is a shame that we haven’t reached a global consensus. But what matters is that the leaders care and are willing to learn. Whether it be about sustainability, productivity, or innovation, what matters is that the leaders are willing to stand firm behind what they believe the biggest AI-related challenge is for their countries.
I know I care.
I care a lot about algorithmic bias because I have experienced first-hand the discrimination that we humans can impose on others. In the algorithmic hands of AI, this discrimination can and will be amplified, and I am not willing to continue stomaching that reality.
You, the audience, also care too. Or you will have to care eventually. Because there is one thing the leaders agree on, and that we citizens also need to understand. AI is inevitable. AI will uproot everything we know. It might not raid our communities, but it will change the way we socialise, work, and live. The question is whether you will shy away from it or confront the challenge head-on.
So bring your humanities background, your infant-like interest in artificial intelligence, and most importantly, your passion. As one of the experts optimistically put it, ‘Sometimes, you have to be thrust into the deep end’. Your passion, your drive, and your desire to effect change, will act as the buoy to prevent you from drowning.
Amidst the unknown that is AI, there are no imposters among us.
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The views and opinions expressed by Global Voices Fellows do not necessarily reflect those of the organisation or its staff.