Let’s meet the panelists for “Humanity in Stories”, a written panel scheduled for upload sometime mid-May 2026. A brief introduction on how this came about can be found here.

Carl Javier started writing for broadsheets and magazines in the Philippines over 25 years ago. In the time since, he has worked in literature, comics, publishing, academe, nonprofits and social enterprise, film and television, and entrepreneurship. At present,alongside his work as a media consultant and freelance writer, he is the Executive Director of Data and AI Ethics, where he works to advance Responsible AI and human-centered tech policy. He teaches Creative Writing at the Fine Arts Department of the Ateneo de Manila University and serves on the Board of Advisors of the De La Salle University’s AB Philosophy & Artificial Intelligence program.

“Well, one of the things I talk about when I teach AI ethics is we need to be aware of how most of these frontier models are built on Western culture and texts written in English. So if we use these, we should be aware that they do not represent us. One of the things I advocate for is that we need to build our own models that are built on our history, language, experience, etc. If we don’t then that’s further homogenization and flattening. 

I also don’t think that “we share more than we think” is a thing that you bring about by flattening differences of culture. In fact it’s in the specificities of artistic expression of other cultures that I come to understand my own more. Like when you look at the beautiful formal garb from Indonesia and it’s so similar to the barong, but it’s rooted in different traditions, different designs, you know more and wind up thinking about the different events in history that make our cultures unique.”