Bridging art and AI in the global south: the development of the robot Zequinha considering the grand challenges of human-centered artificial intelligence

TL;DR

This paper describes the creation of Zequinha, a Brazilian robot that combines art and AI to support education and culture while addressing privacy and local governance.

Contribution

The novel contribution is the integration of local AI and human-centered design in a culturally relevant robot for the Global South.

Findings

Zequinha uses local AI to enhance privacy and enable offline operation.

Collaborative development with children ensures a human-centered design approach.

The robot promotes wellbeing through cultural mediation and engagement in education and health.

Abstract

This paper presents the design of a Brazilian robot, named Zequinha, for cultural and educational purposes in light of Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence challenges. Zequinha’s development is a blend of art, robotics, and AI, evolving from MIDI-programmed animatronics to an autonomous entity integrating multiple local AIs. This shift to local processing inherently enhances privacy and governance, minimizing reliance on external APIs and enabling offline operability. The project’s human-centered design approach is evident in its iterative methodology and its collaborative development with children. Zequinha promotes human wellbeing by enriching cultural mediation, engaging diverse audiences, and demonstrating potential in health and education. Moreover, the focus on local AI fosters responsible design and meaningful human-AI interaction, aiming to create a charismatic, safe, and useful robotic mediator.

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