Ian Slade Ashivende

About

Ian Slade Ashivende is a Fellow in the Research Group "Digitalization, Sustainability, and Participation" at the Weizenbaum Institute. His research project, "Knowing More Than the Model: Deploying Tacit Cultural Expertise to Interrogate AI Bias in Upcycled Fashion Design," examines how localized cultural-aesthetic knowledge mitigates dominant-culture algorithmic bias in generative AI tools used across Nairobi’s upcycled fashion sector.

Ian is a Doctoral Candidate in Fashion and Textile Technology at The Technical University of Kenya and serves as a Lecturer and Design Researcher at South Eastern Kenya University. His academic work lies at the intersection of decolonial AI ethics, digital craft, material sustainability, and computational fashion workflows, utilizing mixed-methods frameworks like PLS-SEM and qualitative thematic analysis.He actively collaborates on international research initiatives bridging Global South creative practices with global AI governance frameworks. 

Research Group: Digitalization, Sustainability, and Participation (19.10.26 - 08.11.26)