Machine learning (ML) is increasingly used for producing automated decisions throughout society. While ML offers the promise of scale and efficiency, it runs the risk of codifying biases—such as racism and sexism—in its decisions. As discussed in the Absolutely Interdisciplinary conference session “Fairness in Machine Learning,” understanding and mitigating this risk will require a team effort from scholars across many disciplines.

At the Schwartz Reisman Institute’s graduate workshop "Views on Techno-Utopia," presenters Jamie Duncan and Julian Posada discussed the disconnect between the complex circumstances in which the data used to train AI systems are sourced and the laws and regulations designed to protect people’s data rights.

Absolutely Interdisciplinary 2021 brought together over 270 participants from around the world, to explore the theme of “Human and Machine Normativity: New Connections.” The conference brought together researchers working on similar questions from a variety of disciplines in order to map out new terrain for thinking about human and machine normativity.

This year’s Absolutely Interdisciplinary conference will forge new connections between researchers studying normativity in human and machine contexts, bringing academic disciplines together to develop novel approaches towards ensuring technology is aligned with human values. The conference runs from June 16-18, 2021.

A proposed new tool aims to aggregate commercial data to enable a safe re-opening of Toronto’s Financial District. But the project raises questions around usability and privacy, as well as concerns about its value, risks, and feasibility. SRI reports on a Solutions Workshop with findings relevant to broader implications for data sharing and privacy.

When we say that something is good or bad, is that a claim about objective facts, or something dependent on our perspective? Guest blogger Cory Travers Lewis reflects on Denis Walsh’s way of thinking about norms—one which treats them as both objective facts and as dependent on the perspective of particular living things.

SRI Graduate Fellow Shabnam Haghzare reflects on Joanna J. Bryson’s seminar about AI ethics, AI as human-authored tool, and the need for AI regulation in the service of public good. Bryson is professor of ethics and technology at the Hertie School in Berlin.

“Views on Techno-Utopia” will bring together early career scholars in the sciences, social sciences, and humanities to follow the promises and perils of emerging technologies—particularly AI, platforms, and surveillance tech—through the lens of techno-utopianism. Learn more about the 2021 SRI Grad Workshop, including description, submission instructions, dates and deadlines, and more.

Deborah Hellman, professor of law at the University of Virginia, spoke at the Schwartz Reisman Institute’s weekly seminar about the ways in which algorithmic decision-making can exacerbate the already-present possibility of “compounding injustice” and “accuracy-affecting injustice.” To capture our moral intuitions in cases like this, Hellman proposes the “Anti-Compounding Injustice Principle.”

SRI Director Gillian K. Hadfield will discuss her book Rules for a Flat World as part of Rotman’s Big Ideas series. The paperback edition includes a new prologue about artificial intelligence—its risks, benefits, evolution, and regulation. In this interview, Hadfield offers insights into how we might understand, govern, and build technology that is responsive to human values.

Privacy legislation has been instrumental in protecting data rights and data privacy in an increasingly data-driven world. But healthcare is a sector in which increased access to data could have major public benefits—for researchers, patients, and others. Learn more in a new report from the Schwartz Reisman Institute and Diabetes Action Canada on liberating Ontario’s health data for a digital world.

The pace of change in cities—technological, social, economic—seems to speed up day by day, posing challenges to municipal government structures established in different times. More than 50 experts from academia, government, non-profits, and the private sector gathered for four working sessions to find solutions to crucial problems cropping up in city governance.