Disability data futures: Achievable imaginaries for AI and disability data justice

Data are the medium through which individuals’ identities and experiences are represented in contemporary practice, and AI is increasingly mediating between people, data, and decisions. The history of data and AI is often one of disability exclusion, oppression, and the reduction of disabled experience; left unchallenged, the current proliferation of AI and data systems thus risks further automating ableism behind the veneer of algorithmic neutrality. However, exclusionary histories do not preclude inclusive futures, and intersectional, interdisciplinary, and disability-led visions can chart new paths for collective action to achieve futures founded in disability justice. This chapter brings together an international and transdisciplinary team of academics, disabled scholars and disability advocates working at the nexus of disability, data, and AI, to articulate achievable imaginaries for artificial intelligence and disability data justice. Reflecting diverse contexts, disciplinary perspectives, and personal experiences, our discussion draws out key aspects involved in achieving more just disability data futures that support more just AI. We emphasise the intersectionality of disability data justice and the need for transdisciplinary approaches and co-design methods in reshaping the nature and use of disability data. Our discussion illustrates new visions of imagined future systems where data and AI move together towards disability justice.