Shaping governance

Teshager Dagne, Muyang Li

In today's interconnected world, global cooperation is crucial for addressing cross-border challenges. It is evident in progress made on climate change, health crises and economic development, often as a result of international frameworks built on shared resources, common rules and mutual support.

York University researchers are calling for such a coordinated global action to govern artificial intelligence (AI). They say establishing effective frameworks to prevent the intensified risks of digital colonization, deepening inequality, intellectual property (IP) violations and workforce exploitation is crucial.

Associate Professor Teshager Dagne and Assistant Professor Muyang Li, both in the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies, are leading key research and academic initiatives related to AI governance, supported by significant funding for their groundbreaking research in emerging areas.

Dagne, the Ontario Research Chair in Governing Artificial Intelligence in the School of Public Policy & Administration at York’s Markham Campus, has received funding for three collaborative research projects – as co-lead or principal investigator – from the International Development Research Council, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Partnership Grants and French Development Agency.

His research explores the role of existing IP laws in shaping AI innovation and highlights how global legal frameworks often fail to account for diverse realities, particularly in the Global South.

“Most of the impact of IP rules on AI relates to whether there have been copyright violations during the training of AI and the development of its datasets, and whether AI-generated content is protected under IP law,” Dagne explains. “In the context of the Global South, it’s far more complex, with
issues of fairness, access, ownership and cultural rights adding important layers to the discussion.”

His current research focuses on African startups and innovators who face barriers in accessing open data and navigating IP frameworks. “This leaves African developers vulnerable to exploitation, as their data and innovations are often used without proper compensation or recognition.”

"In the context of the Global South, it’s far more complex, with issues of fairness, access, ownership and cultural rights adding important layers to the discussion."

He adds that current global rules reflect the legal traditions and economic priorities of countries in the Global North. “These laws, focused on property rights, often don’t align with how innovation occurs in the Global South, where knowledge-sharing tends to be informal, non-proprietary and rooted in open, collaborative practices.”

Li, whose expertise lies in the geopolitical dynamics of AI governance, points out that academic research capacity in the Global South is also limited, affecting how AI-related policies and laws are developed.

“AI governance research remains dominated by high-income Western nations and elite institutions,” says Li. She received support through York’s Global Research Excellence Seed Fund and almost $100,000 in SSHRC funding for her project with the University of Texas at Austin – Shaping the Future of AI: Artificial Intelligence Governance in Global Dynamics. “Much of the Global South, including South Asia, Africa and the Middle East, remains underrepresented in knowledge production and global policy discourse, reinforcing deep inequalities in institutional capacity and participation.”

Her SSHRC-funded research investigates how geopolitical dynamics influence the development and dissemination of AI regulation and research, mapping which countries and institutions act as decision-making hubs. It also looks at how these structures reproduce, or sometimes challenge, existing hierarchies in the world system.

A York Centre for Asian Research Faculty Associate, Li says the AI governance research is heavily concentrated in the United States, China, the European Union and the United Kingdom. These regions lead global discussions due to imbalances in both knowledge production and funding distribution across the world.

“Certain universities and research centres act as global hubs, driving much of the research agenda. This concentration raises concerns about limited perspectives and potential bias,” she says, noting that funding, researchers and publications on AI governance are highly concentrated in a small group of elite institutions.

As AI reshapes societies and economies worldwide, the call from these researchers is clear: the future of AI must be governed by frameworks that are as diverse, inclusive and interconnected as the world it aims to serve.