What causes social bias in AI – and how can Parliaments counter it?

As AI is adopted across the world, prejudices and biases – sexism, racism, classism – are reproduced in its outputs. What causes these biases, and how can Parliamentarians counter them? To find out, we spoke to Norul Mohamed Rashid, Policy Advisor at UN Women and Dr Claudia Abreu Lopes, Policy Research Lead at the United Nations University.

They discussed how content moderation, unequal access to technology and concentration of power could lead to some of these biases, and how citizens and parliamentarians can fight back.

This episode was recorded by Oz Russell, CPA Communications Officer, at the Kuala Lumpur Conference on the Role of Parliaments in responsible AI in December 2025. The conference was organised jointly by CPA, IPU, UNDP, and the Parliament of Malaysia.

Music: Vine Crawler by Blue Dot Sessions (www.sessions.blue)

Is Artificial Intelligence a threat to democracy?

As AI is adopted across the globe, we're already seeing some of the negative effects that this is having on democracy, from deepfakes to climate issues to the concentration of corporate power. In this episode, we spoke with Supheakmungkol Sarin, co-founder of AI Safety Asia and Michael Bąk, Head of Policy at AI Safety Asia.

They discussed how capacity building in AI differs from other forms of technology, how Parliamentarians should always make AI policy in consultation with civil society, and how different systems of knowledge could influence the development of responsible AI across the globe.

Music: Vine Crawler by Blue Dot Sessions (www.sessions.blue)

Subscribe to the podcast or listen on your favourite platform.

This episode was recorded by Oz Russell, CPA Communications Officer, at the Kuala Lumpur Conference on the Role of Parliaments in responsible AI in December 2025. The conference was organised jointly by CPA, IPU, UNDP, and the Parliament of Malaysia.

This episode of ‘Parliamentary Conversations in the Commonwealth’, the CPA’s Podcast, was made in association with ‘Human Coined’, a Podcast series hosted by Geoff Dubrow, Founder and Principal Consultant at Nexus PFM Consulting Inc., a consulting firm specialising in horizontal approaches to policy issues, bringing together Parliaments, Ministries of finance, civil society organisations and others.

(https://nexuspfm.com/podcast/)

How can governments ensure that their public projects are good value for money, that spending is economic and efficient and that the public know where their money is going?

In this episode, Geoff Dubrow examines the role of Public Accounts Committees in the Commonwealth’s smallest jurisdictions. He spoke with Hon. Juan Watterson, who has served as Speaker of the Tynwald House of Keys and Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee in the Isle of Man since 2016 and they discussed the unique setup of the Isle of Man Public Accounts Committee, the challenges of running Committees in a small jurisdiction and the increasing complexity of the work of PACs.

Music: Vine Crawler by Blue Dot Sessions (www.sessions.blue)

Subscribe to the podcast or listen on your favourite platform.

Recorded in August 2025.