MAY 2021

AI4Society and KIAS are proud to announce the Ethics E-Symposium Know Thyself as a Virtual Reality. As we work towards creating a set of ethical guidelines for working creatively with medical scan data in VR, we will be troubling some of the ethical issues surrounding health data ownership and privacy with a full-day e-Symposium. Presentations by Dr. Remigius Nwabueze, Dr. Ubaka Ogbogu, Dr. Susan Cox, Fahim Hassan & Katrina Ingram

To reserve a place in the workshop, please complete this form.

More information at: https://www.knowthyself.ualberta.ca/events/

Learn more about KTVR collaboratory at: https://forum.ai4society.ca/index.php/SI5:Main

AI4Society Dialogs

On April 19th our seventh episode was premiered, Episode Eight: Jennifer Raso: Encoding the Law: Technology’s Impact on Institutional Decision Making. Visit the official site AI4Society Dialogues to hear this and our previous episodes.

What's coming - Episode Nine: Deb Verhoeven: Networked Data: Gender, Power and Relationships

How can we use the tools of big data, networks and an understanding of our digital infrastructure to shed light on power relationships and inequities? In her work as a digital humanities scholar, Dr. Deb Verhoeven is enlisting machine learning to redress the persistent domination of power elites.

Release date: May 10th, 2021

Listen to all episodes on these platforms!

Events Review

AI4Society collaborated this term to develop a series of Ethics Dialogues. These were developed in an international collaboration with the Center for Digital Ethics and Policy (CDEP) at Loyola University Chicago and the Weizenbaum Institute for the Networked Society in Berlin. The Dialogues typically brought researchers at the participating universities together to talk about ethical issues related to artificial intelligence. The topics covered in the three Dialogues included:

• Contact Tracing and Apps
• Whistleblower Protections: Can organizations self-regulate?
• Surveillance and Carcerality

A number of U of Alberta faculty presented at these dialogues including:

• Tim Hannigan from the Department of Strategy, Entrepreneurship and Management contributed to the Dialogue on Whistleblower Protections.
• Kevin D. Haggerty from Sociology contributed to the Dialogue on Surveillance and Carcerality
• Geoffrey Rockwell from Philosophy contributed to the Dialogue on Contact Tracing

The Dialogues led into a three day Symposium on Ethics in the Age of Smart Systems that was held in April.

Revisit the keynote speakers presentations below!

Ethics Dialogues #1
Dialogue on the Ethics of Contact Tracing

Ethics Dialogues #2
Dialogue on Surveillance and Carcerality

Ethics Dialogues #3
Dialogue on Whistleblower Protections Can organizations self-regulate?

AI4Society partnered with the Center for Digital Ethics and Policy (CDEP) at Loyola University Chicago and the Weizenbaum Institute for the Networked Society in Berlin to put on a three day Symposium on Ethics in the Age of Smart Systems that drew speakers from North America and Europe.

The keynotes included Veena Dubal on The New Racial Wage Code, Virginia Dignum on Responsible AI, and Rafael Capurro on Smart Living in the Digital Age.

This Symposium followed a series of Ethics Dialogues also organized by the three institutes on the themes of Artificial Intelligence and Whistleblowing, Contact Tracing and Privacy, and Surveillance and Carcerality. These dialogues were more informal and ran one a month leading up to the Symposium in April.

This Symposium represents a collaboration between the three institutes/centres around the subject of AI and Ethics. A special issue of the International Review of Information Ethics (informationethics.ca) is now being organized from the papers presented and new ones. We have a Call for Papers for those interested, find more Information here.

You can find all the presentations on the Symposium official website.

Revisit the keynote speakers presentations below.

Veena Dubal on The New Racial Wage Code

Virginia Dignum on Responsible AI

Rafael Capurro on Smart Living in the Digital Age

On Demand Webinar: The Evolution of Ethics in AI

Join our Director Dr. Eleni Stroulia and one of our most active members Dr. Nidhi Hegde for a discussion on how AI is affecting our day to day existence. Learn how artificial intelligence generates, collects and uses personal data to make decisions on your behalf in areas such as finance, justice and access to resources. Find out what aspects of digital privacy to watch out for and what steps you can take to protect yourself.

Access to the recording of this event by visiting the Alumni On Demand Webinars here: https://www.ualberta.ca/alumni/on-demand/webinars.html?details=the-evolution-of-ethics-in-ai

Who

Any UofAlberta community member (faculty, researcher, or student) interested in any and all aspects of Artificial Intelligence!

Why

• To stay informed about AI-related funding opportunities and events (research grants, internships, competitions, ...)
• To access AI4Society support for research and teaching initiatives
• To profile your research and to collaborate with other community members, through our Forum.

How

Send an email with a brief description of your affiliation, interests, and activities related to artificial intelligence to ai4s@ualberta.ca.

Call for Papers

Ethics in the Age of Smart Systems: Special Issue of IRIE

In collaborative partnership, the Weizenbaum Institute for the Networked Society in Berlin, the AI4Society Signature Area at the University of Alberta, and the Center for Digital Ethics and Policy at Loyola University Chicago call for papers for a collection with the title Ethics in the Age of Smart Systems - Special Issue of IRIE. This publication builds on the 10th Annual International Symposium of the Center for Digital Ethics and Policy. This Symposium was on the topic of Ethics in the Age of Smart Systems and was held on April 19th, 20th, and 21st. This Symposium brought together researchers from Canada, the USA, Germany and beyond working in the interdisciplinary area of AI, ethics and policy. It built upon a series of Ethics Dialogues that took place between February and March 2021.

More information here.

Funding and help opportunity

Each year, WISEST Summer Research Program invites research labs on campus to supervise a WISEST student researcher for 6 weeks (Jul 5-Aug 13, 2021). Share your passion for research and your scientific know-how with grade 11 students who want to explore diverse fields of study in science, engineering and technology. AI4Society offers a 2K subsidy for the cost of hosting a WISEST student in members' labs. To access this subsidy, please contact ai4s@ualberta with a description of your project.

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