AoIR is delighted to announce that the 2025 AoIR Student Paper Award has been awarded to Lucia Fernanda Mesa Velez for her paper “Rupturing ‘AI for Good’: A Feminist Decolonial Theoretical Framework for Analyzing AI Interventions in Gender-Based Violence.” You can hear Lucia’s paper at #AoIR2025 in Niterói on 16 October at 4:00 p.m. in the session Rethinking AI.
Lucia’s paper has been recognized for the author’s innovative use of feminist and decolonial perspectives to build a critical framework for analyzing “AI for Good” interventions addressing gender-based violence (GBV). The significance of this critique stems from her accurate perception that current “AI for Good” initiatives require deeper examination, given their impact on vulnerable people, communities, and territories worldwide.
We also recognize Tomás Guarna with an Honorable Mention for his paper, “Against the Tide: Startup Cultures in Mexico City and Buenos Aires” You can hear Tomás’s paper on 16 October at 11:00 a.m. in the session Mapping and Cartographing Cities and Cultures.
Tomás’s paper focuses on a young generation of entrepreneurs in Latin America, specifically in Mexico and Argentina, navigating the startup ecosystem amidst a global market recession. His comprehensive ethnographic approach is based on five weeks of fieldwork in Mexico City and Buenos Aires, including observations at conferences and events, and meetings with startup entrepreneurs, venture capital partners and staff, startup accelerator leaders, and business school academics.
Congratulations to Lucia and Tomás! Be sure to check out their sessions at the conference.
