Media Mentions

Why did the affordability crisis, misinformation, immigration chaos, and endless wars not split the Black women’s vote?

"Looking at Black women as a voter category and the sheer percentages in favor of one party may imply blind loyalty. But the picture that emerges from Black women themselves is a deeper history of how democratic culture and hard-won voting rights have been built in America."

Subramaniam Vincent, director, journalism and media ethics, published by Forbes.

AI: Unpacking the Black Box a series on the issues and impacts of AI on our society. Hosted by technical futurist, John McElligott, each episode invites thought leaders in the field of AI and explores the past, present and future of AI and the impact to education, healthcare, manufacturing, creativity, defense, and more.

In Episode 2 focusing on AI Ethics, Brian Green, director, technology ethics discusses how to accelerate quality discussion of AI related issues.

"The biggest question of them all, right -- it's like, how do we use AI for good? Because it has obviously good uses. And how do we prevent it from being used for bad? How do we take these bad uses and either ban them or somehow contain them so that these things are not destroying society?"

Brian Green, director, technology ethics, interviewed by PBS.

Choosing billionaire Elon Musk to be what President-elect Donald Trump calls “our cost cutter” for the U.S. government, is not the first time an American president has empowered a business tycoon to look for ways to dramatically cut federal regulations.

“There’s direct conflicts between his businesses and government’s interest,” said Ann Skeet, director of leadership ethics at Santa Clara University's Markkula Center. “He’s now in a position to try and curry favor for those enterprises.”

Ann Skeet, quoted by The Associated Press, and republished by ABC News, and 200+ additional outlets.

In recent years, AI has seeped into nearly every sector, revolutionizing traditional practices and introducing new paradigms. Healthcare, for example, has continuously struggled with inefficiencies and complications arising from vast patient data. “Doctors are finding it increasingly challenging to deliver care amidst a deluge of information,” notes Dr. Brian Patrick Green of the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics. The need for AI-driven solutions is clear, as it offers a means to sift through this data and identify patients who may be falling through the cracks.

Brian Green, director, technology ethics, quoted by SCI Journal.

When public officials transition to private sector work, particularly in the same field as their public service, it can raise ethical issues. 

The knowledge and information public officials hold can be used as a “leg up,” which leads to unfairness in private companies’ and lobbying organizations’ business dealings with government entities.

John Pelissero, director, government ethics, quoted by Mississippi Today.

Sanjukta Mondal at BioSpace reports that a suit against Novartis and Vitaris brought by the Henrietta Lacks estate questions both the morality and legality of using the line for biopharmaceutical research.

Subsequent lawsuits brought against companies for profiting from the cells have so far had positive outcomes, with a settlement in the first case, explained Dorothee Caminiti, director of bioethics at Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University, in an email to BioSpace.

“It should be kept in mind, however, that the use of HeLa cells is far from the only example of the unethical use of human genetic material for research purposes,” Caminiti added.

Dorothee Caminiti, director, bioethics, quoted by BioSpace.

Erin Hale reports for Al Jazeera that Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk stands to gain a cabinet position if Donald Trump wins the US presidential election.

John Pelissero, director of government ethics, questioned Musk’s standing to hold a government position given his lack of experience in the public sector.

“Without any working experience in government, one might wonder how he could be qualified to occupy a position, for example, that focuses on government efficiency,” Pelissero told Al Jazeera.

“It is worth noting that past government efficiency or reform commissions have often been led by an individual who has earned public trust and has deep experience in government.”

John Pelissero, director, government ethics, quoted by Al Jazeera.

“Full disclosure of when AI is being used is a good idea, especially if artificial pictures could create unrealistic beauty standards. But even better would be avoiding using AI-created human likenesses in the first place,” Green of Santa Clara University says. “Companies should really keep the well-being of their customers in mind, and the well-being of society. Choices like these decide what kind of world we are all going to live in — either one full of fake AI or real human beings. Knowing the right boundary between these two futures will be extraordinarily important.”

Brian Green, director, technology ethics, quoted by Vogue Business (paywall).