Artificial intelligence, accountability, and authenticity knowledge production and power in global health crisis

Artificial intelligence, accountability, and authenticity: knowledge production and power in global health crisis

Reda SadkiGlobal health

I know and appreciate Joseph, a Kenyan health leader from Murang’a County, for years of diligent leadership and contributions as a Scholar of The Geneva Learning Foundation (TGLF). Recently, he began submitting AI-generated responses to Teach to Reach Questions that were meant to elicit narratives grounded in his personal experience. Seemingly unrelated to this, OpenAI just announced plans for specialized AI agents—autonomous systems designed to perform complex cognitive tasks—with pricing ranging from $2,000 monthly for a “high-income knowledge worker” equivalent to $20,000 monthly for “PhD-level” research capabilities. This is happening at a time when traditional funding structures in global health, development, and humanitarian response face unprecedented volatility. These developments intersect around fundamental questions of knowledge economics, authenticity, and power in global health contexts. I want to explore three questions: Artificial intelligence within punitive accountability structures of global health For years, Joseph had shared thoughtful, context-rich contributions based on his direct experiences. …

Defoe in the Pillory

Accountability in learning

Reda SadkiLearning strategy

What if you were the key internal resource person with learning expertise? What if you advocated, recommended, and prescribed low-volume, high-cost face-to-face training? What if your advocacy was so successful that global partners invested hundreds of millions of dollars in what you prescribed – even in the absence of any standard to determine the return on that investment? What if your recommended approach resulted in zero measurable impact? What if partners nevertheless kept spending on training, entrenching perverse incentives like per diem to substitute for motivation, evidence, and results? What if you ignored and then dismissed, for as long as you possibly could, the relevance and potential of digital networks to support learning? What if you then managed to replicate the worst, least effective kinds of training through sterile digital formats of slides with voiceovers and a quiz at the end? What if you kept badgering managers to get their …