Emory University, Emory News Center; AI.Humanity Ethics Lecture Series will explore the ethics of artificial intelligence
"As society increasingly relies on artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, how can ethically committed individuals and institutions articulate values to guide their development and respond to emerging problems? Join the Office of the Provost to explore the ethical implications of AI in a new AI.Humanity Ethics Lecture Series.
Over four weeks in April and May, world-renowned AI scholars will visit Emory to discuss the moral and social complexities of AI and how it may be shaped for the benefit of humanity. A reception will follow each lecture.
Matthias Scheutz: “Moral Robots? How to Make AI Agents Fit for Human Societies”
Monday, April 11
Lecture at 4 p.m., reception at 5:30 p.m.
Convocation Hall — Community Room (210)
Register here.
AI is different from other technologies in that it enables and creates machines that can perceive the world and act on it autonomously. We are on the verge of creating sentient machines that could significantly improve our lives and better human societies. Yet AI also poses dangers that are ours to mitigate. In this presentation, Scheutz will argue that AI-enabled systems — in particular, autonomous robots — must have moral competence: they need to be aware of human social and moral norms, be able to follow these norms and justify their decisions in ways that humans understand. Throughout the presentation, Scheutz will give examples from his work on AI robots and human-robot interaction to demonstrate a vision for ethical autonomous robots...
Seth Lazar: “The Nature and Justification of Algorithmic Power”
Monday, April 18
Lecture at 4 p.m., reception at 5:30 p.m.
Convocation Hall — Community Room (210)
Register here.
Algorithms increasingly mediate and govern our social relations. In doing so, they exercise a distinct kind of intermediary power: they exercise power over us; they shape power relations between us; and they shape our overarching social structures. Sometimes, when new forms of power emerge, our task is simply to eliminate them. However, algorithmic intermediaries can enable new kinds of human flourishing and could advance social structures that are otherwise resistant to progress. Our task, then, is to understand and diagnose algorithmic power and determine whether and how it can be justified. In this lecture, Lazar will propose a framework to guide our efforts, with particular attention to the conditions under which private algorithmic power either can, or must not, be tolerated.
Ifeoma Ajunwa: “The Unrealized Promise of Artificial Intelligence”
Thursday, April 28
Lecture at 4 p.m., reception at 5:30 p.m.
Oxford Road Building — Presentation Room and Living Room/Patio
Register here.
AI was forecast to revolutionize the world for the better. Yet this promise is still unrealized. Instead, there is a growing mountain of evidence that automated decision making is not revolutionary; rather, it has tended to replicate the status quo, including the biases embedded in our societal systems. The question, then, is what can be done? The answer is twofold: One part looks to what can be done to prevent the reality of automated decision making both enabling and obscuring human bias. The second looks toward proactive measures that could allow AI to work for the greater good...
Carissa Véliz: “On Privacy and Self-Presentation Online”
Thursday, May 5
Lecture at 4 p.m.
Online via Zoom
A long tradition in philosophy and sociology considers self-presentation as the main reason why privacy is valuable, often equating control over self-presentation and privacy. Véliz argues that, even though control over self-presentation and privacy are tightly connected, they are not the same — and overvaluing self-presentation leads us to misunderstand the threat to privacy online. Véliz argues that to combat some of the negative trends we witness online, we need, on the one hand, to cultivate a culture of privacy, in contrast to a culture of exposure (for example, the pressure on social media to be on display at all times). On the other hand, we need to readjust how we understand self-presentation online."
