New Article: Artificial Intelligence: Does Consciousness Matter?

Our Center Director, Elisabeth Hildt, just published an interesting piece on artificial intelligence and consciousness. Check it out! 

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01535/full

Call for Applications: Training STEM Faculty New to Teaching Ethics

The National Academy of Engineering Online Ethics Center (OEC) of the Center for Engineering Ethics and Society will hold a 1½-day workshop on Training STEM Faculty New to Teaching Ethics. Applications are invited from STEM faculty who wish to identify opportunities to integrate ethics and responsible conduct of research (RCR) guidance in their courses and research environments. Workshop presenters and participants will explore a variety of hands-on tools and approaches, both formal and ad hoc, including the use of the OEC as both a teaching tool and resource for materials. Participants will consider their own classes and research projects as well as the approaches and materials presented to create or enhance a learning activity, such as a class plan, course syllabus, or laboratory practice. This workshop is designed to help faculty and others seeking to fulfill (a) NSF and NIH requirements for providing RCR instruction and (b) ABET ethics education expectations.

The OEC is looking for faculty, researchers, and/or administrators who are eager to develop strategies and plans for incorporating ethics in their courses or research environments. Some spots will be reserved for individual attendees. Applicants are sought who will broadly represent a range of STEM disciplines, including the social sciences; graduate and undergraduate instructors; and a variety of academic institutions (e.g., liberal arts colleges, large public universities, institutions serving underrepresented populations, private research institutions).

The workshop will be held October 22–23, 2019, at the National Academies’ Keck Building in Washington, DC. There is no fee for workshop registration. Participants are expected to cover their travel costs. Limited funds are available for travel assistance in cases of financial need. 

Please share this announcement with those you think would be interested.

The application deadline is Monday, July 15, 2019. 

 

To apply and for more information: 
https://www.onlineethics.org/Workshop-Application.aspx

 

 

Informed Experiences, Designing Consent

Informed Experiences, Designing Consent is a symposium interrogating the intersections of consent and the design of interactive media and technologies. The symposium is hosted at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago by the Center for the Study of Ethics in the Professions and the HASTAC Scholars fellowship program on April 6, 2019. It is organized by Michael Anthony DeAnda, Elisabeth Hildt, Kelly Laas, and Leilasadat Mirghaderi.

Informed Experiences, Designing Consent is a one-day event intended to bring together researchers, scholars, practitioners, and designers to consider the implications of theoretical, social, and material aspects of consent and design. Some examples of topics include: consent to participate in social media, user agreement, consent in gaming, informed consent to data collection and use, consent in digital humanities research. This workshop will consider ethical approaches to each of these respective fields of study and development. This event emphasizes theory and practice, structured on an iterative process of Learn, Make, Reflect. Here, participants will begin by listening to a panel on the topic of consent and design, then move to a group maker breakout session to design based off key concepts from the panel and return together to reflect on the process.

We invite researchers, scholars, practitioners, designers, makers, and ethicists to submit proposals for 10-15 minute presentations and to attend this event, particularly those interested in consent as it applies to:

• Ethics and philosophy 
• Informed Consent 
• Design of experiences 
• Game design and gaming culture 
• Design and study of User Experience 
• Website development 
• Application design and mobile app design 
• User Interface Design 
• Data collection 
• Digital Humanities 
• Social Media Research 
• User agreements 
• Audience studies 
• Design Research 
• Research Methods and Practices 
• Research Design 
• Storytelling and digital storytelling 
• Maker spaces and crafting

Proposal submissions should include a title, a 400-500 word abstract, and a bio of 100-150 words in length by January 23, 2019 to this form.

Any further questions may be directed to Michael DeAnda at mdeanda@hawk.iit.edu.

Call for Papers for Special Issue of Science and Engineering Ethics

Call for Papers

Special Issue of the journal Science and Engineering Ethics

Brain-Based and Artificial Intelligence: Socio-ethical Conversations in Computing and Neurotechnology

Editors: Elisabeth Hildt, Kelly Laas, Monika Sziron, Stephanie J. Bird

We are inviting papers to be included in a special issue of Science and Engineering Ethics  that seeks to explore the convergences and disparities in approaches to intelligence in neuroscience and computer science. The topic for this special issue comes from a May 2018 workshop organized by the Center for the Study of Ethics in the Professions at the Illinois Institute of Technology, that reflected on how brain-based intelligence is similar to artificial intelligence (AI) and also how both can be combined in neurotechnology. Papers submitted for this special issue should explore the ethical and social implications that arise in AI and neurotechnology. Here the term “brain-based” intelligence encompasses both human and non-human animal intelligence. This special issue aims to advance an interdisciplinary discussion between scientists, practitioners, and scholars around these questions.

Both conference presenters and new authors are invited to submit an abstract for consideration.

Topics of contributions may include but are not limited to:

●    Finding a Common Language: Psychology, Neuroscience, and AI

●    Understanding Intelligence: The Physiological and the Mechanical

●    Ethics of Anthropomorphic Design and Processes in AI

●    Ethical and Social Implications of AI and Neurotechnology

●    Rights in AI and Neurotechnology: Policies, Regulations and Legislation

●    Similarities and Differences of Ethics in AI and Neuroscience

●    Science-fiction: Friend or Foe?

●    Merging of Brains and AI Technology

●    Brain-Computer Interfaces

●    Hybrid Intelligence

Submissions of up to 5,000 words are invited from the fields of neuroscience, computer science, engineering, psychology, philosophy, ethics, law, political science and social science.

Please submit an abstract (or revised workshop abstract) of up to 500 words. Abstracts are due September 15, 2018 and should be sent to Elisabeth Hildt at csep@iit.edu. Authors of selected abstracts will be notified of the editors' decision by October 1, 2018 and invited to submit a full paper. They will also receive further information regarding the formal requirements of the paper.

Full papers, of up to 5,000 words in length, double-spaced and in 12 point font are due December 15, 2018.

All manuscripts will go through the journal’s double blind peer review process.

General Information can also be found on the website of Science and Engineering Ethics (see Instruction for Authors): http://www.springer.com/social+sciences/applied+ethics/journal/11948

Search by Publication Type Available

Huge thanks to Preyang Shah and Mohamed Azhar Saikh for all of their hard work in repairing the Ethics Education Library search. Users are now able to filter their search by publication type, and should be looking for other enhancements to the site in the next few weeks.

Call for Abstracts: Brain-based and Artificial Intelligence: Socio-ethical Conversations in Computing and Neurotechnology

 

Call for Abstracts: Brain-based and Artificial Intelligence: Socio-ethical Conversations in Computing and Neurotechnology

May 10-11, 2018, Chicago, IL
Organized by the Center for the Study of Ethics in the Professions, Illinois Institute of Technology

This workshop seeks to explore the convergences and disparities in approaches to intelligence in neuroscience and computer science. It will reflect on how brain-based intelligence is similar to artificial intelligence and also how both can be combined in neurotechnology. Based on this, the workshop will explore the ethical and social implications that arise in AI and neurotechnology. We are using the term ‘brain-based’ intelligence to encompass both human and non-human animal intelligence. The workshop aims to advance an interdisciplinary discussion between scientists, practitioners, and scholars around these questions.

Invited speakers:

• Maria Gini, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, University of Minnesota 
• Mark Coeckelbergh, Department of Philosophy, University of Vienna 
• Mikhail Lebedev, Center for Neuroengineering, Duke University

Topics for presentations may include but are not limited to:

• Finding a Common Language: Psychology, Neuroscience, and AI 
• Understanding Intelligence: The Physiological and the Mechanical 
• Ethics of Anthropomorphic Design and Processes in AI 
• Ethical and Social Implications of AI and Neurotechnology 
• Rights in AI and Neurotechnology: Policies, Regulations and Legislation 
• Similarities and Differences of Ethics in AI and Neuroscience 
• Science-fiction: Friend or Foe? Merging of Brains and AI Technology Brain-Computer Interfaces Hybrid Intelligence

We invite presentations from the fields of neuroscience, computer science, engineering, psychology, philosophy, ethics, law, political science and social science. Please submit an abstract of up to 500 words.

Abstracts for 20-30 minute presentations are due by March 9, 2018. Please send your abstract to csep@iit.edu.We also welcome your questions or proposals for additional workshop topics at csep@iit.edu.

The workshop will be held in Chicago at the Illinois Institute of Technology downtown campus.

Fostering Integrity in Research

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine recently put out a report entitled "Fostering Integrity in Research" that updates their publication of the same name published in 1992. This is a fantastic resource for educators, institutions and research involved in research and want to learn more about scientific integrity, ethics education in this area, and best practices for fostering a a culture of integrity.