How can computing researchers better consider the ethical and societal impacts of their work? In a recent SRI Seminar, Harvard professor Barbara Grosz outlined the key findings of a major new report on responsible computing research, which provides practical recommendations for new methodologies and approaches.

How can we harness the economic benefits of AI innovation? In June 2022, the Schwartz Reisman Institute convened a roundtable with the Business Development Bank of Canada to explore how AI can be better used in financial services, featuring panelists from financial institutions, leading startups, universities, and government. The event’s findings have been issued in a new report that details the importance of responsible AI and new approaches to regulation.

How is virtual reality changing the way we live? Does living in a virtual landscape create new ethical and moral problems? At the first annual Technophilosophy September Soirée, SRI Research Lead Karina Vold convened an interdisciplinary panel of University of Toronto scholars to discuss the impacts of new technologies on the way we understand our world.

The Schwartz Reisman Institute is launching a new speaker and mentorship series to promote gender equity in artificial intelligence research, in collaboration with Deloitte. The Women in AI series will convene leading female AI researchers to share knowledge through seminar events that promote opportunities for women across the technology sector.

The SRI Seminar Series convenes the Schwartz Reisman Institute’s community to discuss cutting-edge ideas and scholarship at the intersection of technology and society. The 2022 Fall Seminar Series begins on September 14, 2022 with a presentation by Julie Shah, director of the Interactive Robotics Group at MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory.

In a session at Absolutely Interdisciplinary 2022, SRI Associate Director Peter Loewen, Jonathan Stray of the Berkeley Center for Human-Compatible AI, and Taylor Owen of McGill University discussed what methods and principles might be used to redesign the algorithms that decide what billions of people see in accordance with democratic values.

The rise of the information society and the ubiquity of digital technologies brings new challenges for governance, as traditional institutions might not be sufficient to address the complex issues emerging from these new tools. In a talk at Absolutely Interdisciplinary 2022, SRI Faculty Fellow Anna Su explored the phenomenon of digital constitutionalism and the importance of human rights to balance powers in the digital realm.

Can the data collected by private companies be recognized as a public resource to be leveraged for social good? What obstacles stand in the way? In a panel discussion at Absolutely Interdisciplinary 2022, SRI Associate Director Lisa Austin discussed the shape of data today with Eric Horvitz (Microsoft), Aziz Z. Huq (University of Chicago), Robert Seamans (Stern School of Business, NYU), and Pamela Snively (TELUS).

Calls for AI to be “explainable” have been mounting for several years, leading computer scientists to provide accounts of the decisions of complex ML systems. But are such accounts the only kinds of explanations we need? At Absolutely Interdisciplinary 2022, Finale Doshi-Velez and Boris Babic explored the differences between explanation and justification, and how insights from other regulatory domains can help us build trustworthy systems.

In a session at Absolutely Interdisciplinary focused on collective agency in evolution and AI, SRI Research Lead Denis Walsh, Kate Larson, and Richard Watson discussed what insights evolutionary biology and computer science can teach each other about multi-agent systems, collectives, and the paradox of individuality.

In a session at Absolutely Interdisciplinary 2022 on “Natural and Artificial Social Learning,” SRI Associate Director Sheila McIlraith, Faculty Affiliate Jennifer Nagel, and Natasha Jaques of Google Brain explored how social learning can benefit a wide range of agents, including humans and AI systems, and how insights from philosophy and computer science can illuminate each other.

How are advanced technologies shaping beliefs and truths in our daily lives, and what role does trust play in developing new technologies? At the 2022 SRI Graduate Workshop “Technologies of Trust,” a wide range of interdisciplinary scholarship explored these themes in relation to health sciences, philosophy, management, and education.