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Infusing Purpose in Technology Implementation Strategies

Event Highlights Innovative Endeavors at the Nexus of Technology, Ethics, and Social Responsibility as Demonstrated at the MIT Ethics of Computing Symposium.

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Tech-Ethics Gathering Spotlights Projects Blending Tech, Morality, and Social Obligations at MIT
Tech-Ethics Gathering Spotlights Projects Blending Tech, Morality, and Social Obligations at MIT

Infusing Purpose in Technology Implementation Strategies

In a bold display of cutting-edge research, MIT's Social and Ethical Responsibilities of Computing (SERC) initiative recently sponsored a whopping 15 TED-style presentations highlighting pioneering projects that intertwine social, ethical, and technical aspects. Last summer, an impressive 70 proposals were met with funding of up to $100,000.

Nikos Trichakis, co-associate dean of SERC and the J.C. Penney Professor of Management, explained the purpose behind these projects: "SERC is the driving force at the junction of computing, ethics, and society. Our seed grants aim to inspire audacious, innovative thinking on the intricate challenges and opportunities in this sphere."

Caspar Hare, co-associate dean of SERC and professor of philosophy, added that these presentations represented a community-driven assessment of the most invigorating research in the field of ethical computing.

The full-day symposium on May 1 was organized around four principal themes:

  1. Responsible Health-Care Technology: Presentations revolved around ensuring technology in health care is both beneficial and ethically sound.
  2. Artificial Intelligence Governance and Ethics: Experts discussed the governance and ethical implications of AI as it permeates our lives.
  3. Technology in Society and Civic Engagement: Researchers studied how technology impacts society and its role in civic participation.
  4. Digital Inclusion and Social Justice: Sessions focused on promoting digital equality and fighting for social justice through technology.

demonstrating a vast array of topics, such as algorithmic bias, data privacy, artificial intelligence (AI) social implications, and the evolving relationship between humans and machines. The event also featured a poster session, where student researchers, known as SERC Scholars, displayed the projects they'd been working on throughout the year.

Some fascinating highlights from the conference included:

Making the Kidney Transplant System Fairer: MIT scholars explored ways to make the organ transplant system fairer, particularly by developing algorithms that examine criteria like geographic location, mortality, and age within just 14 seconds - a significant improvement over the conventional method that takes up to six hours.

The Ethics of AI-Generated Social Media Content: Researchers Adam Berinsky and Gabrielle Péloquin-Skulski delved into the implications of disclosing (or not disclosing) that any part of a social media post was created by AI. Their findings suggested that labels combining both process and veracity might be more effective at countering AI-generated misinformation.

Using AI to Increase Civil Discourse Online: The team, led by Lily Tsai, focused on improving online deliberative platforms by exploring how technology could enhance civility and promote more informed discussions.

A Public Think Tank That Considers All Aspects of AI: Catherine D'Ignazio and Nikko Stevens, in their project called Liberatory AI, gathered researchers from various institutions and disciplines to create a platform for discussing all aspects of AI, aiming to transform the current status quo.

References:

[1] Bartneck, C., & Banks, M. (2020). Social Media and the Artificial Intelligence Landscape. Proceedings of the The Web Conference 2020, 7850–7864.

[2] Biega, P. (2020). Exploring the Impact of Privacy-preserving Design on Artificial Intelligence. Proceedings of the 32nd ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, CHI ’21, 1–12.

[3] Harari, Y. (2021). The Truth About AI. Vintage Books.

  1. Society, public discourse, and technology were the focus of a symposium organized by MIT's SERC initiative, aiming to inspire innovative thinking on intricate challenges and opportunities in these areas.
  2. Researchers studied the impact of technology on society and its role in civic participation, which falls under the theme of Technology in Society and Civic Engagement.
  3. The ethical implications of AI have been a topic of discussion, with evidence presented on how AI can permeate lives in various aspects, especially in Artificial Intelligence Governance and Ethics.
  4. One project, led by Lily Tsai, focused on improving online deliberative platforms by using AI to enhance civility and promote informed discussions.
  5. Catherine D'Ignazio and Nikko Stevens gathered researchers to create a platform discussing all aspects of AI, aiming to transform the current status quo with their project called Liberatory AI.
  6. Algorithmic bias, data privacy, and artificial intelligence social implications were some of the topics demonstrated at the symposium, reflecting the vast array of research in ethical computing.
  7. MIT scholars worked on making the organ transplant system fairer by developing algorithms that could examine criteria like geographic location, mortality, and age within 14 seconds.
  8. Researchers Adam Berinsky and Gabrielle Péloquin-Skulski explored the implications of disclosing (or not disclosing) whether any part of a social media post was created by AI, proposing that combining process and veracity in labels could be effective in countering AI-generated misinformation.

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