Image based on an illustration by Nadege for the Association for Progressive Communications (APC). Used with permission.
For most of human history, people have turned to their neighbors, family, coworkers, friends, elders, and community members for knowledge sharing, guidance, and connection. However, with the advent and widespread adoption of generative AI in recent years, this connection has been increasingly lost, as people have turned to AI-based tools for answers, missing out on the human connections that keep society together.
This shift does not happen in a vacuum. The technologies now reshaping how knowledge is produced and shared are causing significant harm: environmental damage, extraction of land and resources, deployment in surveillance and war, human rights violations, and the steady erosion of the human labor that underpins creative and intellectual work. At the same time, we know that tools like these can be an accessible alternative for, for example, authors from the Global South who make the generous effort of writing in non-native languages, such as English or Spanish. We are also aware that people with disabilities use AI as an assistive tool in their work.
Recognizing this tension, Global Voices is launching “Don’t ask AI, ask a peer,” a special coverage produced in collaboration between Global Voices, the Association for Progressive Communications (APC), and GenderIT.org.
It brings together authors and illustrators from different countries and with different backgrounds, each taking a distinct path to answer two questions: why does human creativity and connection matter in the age of AI, and what would a human rights approach to AI actually look like? This content will be written, edited, and translated by people. It will be imbued with human emotions, reflections, and contradictions. The work will be remunerated, and the acknowledgments clear. Instead of pre-programmed responses generated by opaque algorithms designed to please users and hold their attention, different perspectives and thought-provoking ideas could spark conversations. And human brains will each find their unique way to consider these questions.
Through this series, we hope to re-emphasize the importance of knowledge sharing among people, as has been done for centuries: communal exchange of information and expertise based on years of lived experiences, informed by local realities, and motivated by the need to feel connected with one another. It is also part of Global Voices’ April 2026 Spotlight series, “Human perspectives on AI.” You can support this coverage by donating here. Find the story submissions below.
