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Markkula Center for Applied Ethics

Evening Program Webinar Component of the 2022 Summer Institute in Technology Ethics

 Colorful circuit board.

Program Description

As part of the 2022 Summer Institute in Technology Ethics at Santa Clara University, we are inviting interested technology practitioners to join 25 interdisciplinary early-career academics and PhD students and five distinguished guest faculty in a series of interactive evening webinars designed to facilitate enriching interactions between the academic and professional cohorts.

Participants in the professional group will consider a variety of topics related to technology ethics and collaborate with the academic cohort in working through a selection of case studies, with an emphasis on the practical implementation of applied ethics in responsible R&D, product design and development, marketing, and product support.

These conversations will be conducted under Chatham House rules.

The evening program series aims to provide participants with

  • a grasp of basic vocabulary and primary conceptual tools and applied ethics frameworks
  • an understanding of some of the most pressing moral concerns currently challenging tech/AI practitioners—such as algorithmic bias, explainability, disinformation, diversity & inclusion, AI safety, accountability, surveillance, moral deskilling, human-machine interaction, and technology’s role in promoting the common good
  • a working knowledge of best practices in ethical tech design and responsible AI development
  • practice in communicating clearly and engaging constructively with non-technologists on ethical issues in tech/AI.

Apply now to join us for one or more of the webinars in the series! Details below.

After the conclusion of the Institute, a day-long conference on AI ethics from 9 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. PDT Thursday, July 21, 2022 will provide a public showcase for moral expertise and intelligence as applied to AI.  Full details and registration link will be available soon.

Speakers and Presenters

 

Program Leads
Brian Patrick Green

Director, Technology Ethics

Brian Patrick Green

Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University

Irina Raicu

Director of the Internet Ethics Program

Irina Raicu

Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University

Distinguished Guest Faculty
Colin Allen

Distinguished Professor in the Department of History and Philosophy of Science

Colin Allen

University of Pittsburgh

David Danks

Professor of Data Science and Philosophy

David Danks

University of California, San Diego

Alex Hanna

Director of Research

Alex Hanna

Distributed AI Research Institute (DAIR)

Margaret Mitchell

Researcher and Chief Ethics Scientist

Margaret Mitchell

Huggingface

Julie  Owono

Executive Director

Julie Owono

Content Policy & Society Lab and Internet without Borders

Webinars in the Series

Participants in the professional group registering for one or more events in this series are encouraged to first attend the introductory session on July 12th. 

 

5:30 – 7 p.m. PDT  Tuesday, July 12, 2022

An Introduction to Technology Ethics and an Ethical Decision-Making Framework: Presentation by Irina Raicu and Brian Green

Pre-reading: MCAE Ethical Decision-Making Framework
Optional reading: “Technology and Engineering Practice: Ethical Lenses to Look Through”

We highly recommend that all technology practitioner participants attend this session in addition to any subsequent ones.

 

5:30 – 7 p.m. PDT  Wednesday, July 13, 2022 

Rethinking Algorithmic Bias: Presentation by prof. David Danks (UCSD)

Optional pre-reading: "How Can Algorithms Be Biased?"

Abstract for “Rethinking Algorithmic Bias”:
"In this session, prof. Danks will outline the sources and types of algorithmic bias, including an explanation of why some bias is (arguably) inevitable. He will then outline the standard (flawed) approach to dealing with bias issues, and propose a novel methodology for identifying, and perhaps even tackling, these myriad societal, ethical, and algorithmic biases."

 

5:30 – 7 p.m. PDT  Thursday, July 14, 2022 

Disciplinary Diversity and Tech Ethics: Panel discussion with Alex Hanna (DAIR), M Mitchell (Huggingface).

Optional pre-reading: “Bringing the People Back In: Contesting Benchmark Machine Learning Datasets”
 

5:30 – 7 p.m. PDT  Monday, July 18, 2022

Ethics of Social Media: Presentation by Julie Owono (Stanford, Meta Oversight Board)

Optional reading for prof. cohort: [tbd]

 

5:30 – 7 p.m. PDT  Tuesday, July 19, 2022

Wisdom in the Face of Unknown Unknowns: Presentation by prof. Colin Allen (U Pittsburgh)
 
Optional pre-reading: "Any Progress in Building Moral Machines?"
 
Abstract for "Wisdom in the Face of Unknown Unknowns": 
New technologies always spur unintended uses and produce unanticipated consequences. Rapid growth in the power and availability of AI/ML, alongside some well-publicized missteps, seem to have greatly expanded the range of the unknown unknowns. What are the options for designing better sociotechnical structures, more capable of fostering wise choices with respect to AI/ML? Prof. Allen will describe prospects for an 'engineered wisdom' approach to learning machines.
 

Concluding Public Conference: Thursday, July 21, 2022

The Character of AI 

Learn more about this free, one-day public conference, and register to attend the event either in-person at Santa Clara University or virtually via Zoom Webinar.


 

Templeton World Charity Foundation Logo 

This project was made possible through the support of a grant from Templeton World Charity Foundation, Inc funder DOI 501100011730. The opinions expressed in this event are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Templeton World Charity Foundation, Inc.