Virtual Symposium on "Applied Algorithmic Ethics"

The 2021 Ethics of Big Data Symposium will focus on "Applied Algorithmic Ethics" and will take place November 4, 2021 from 12:30pm - 2:00pm (CT).

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As algorithms increasingly automate decision-making processes, filter information flows, and mediate our social interactions, ethical concerns immediately follow. Questions of fairness, accountability, and transparency permeate the growing set of concerns around the social and ethical implications of algorithms. As a growing community of scholars grapples with the ethics of algorithms, how can their findings be applied by technologists engaged in machine learning and the cutting edge of AI development in order to minimize unintended bias and the risk of harm? Put simply, how can businesses apply algorithmic ethics?

The 2021 Marquette Ethics of Big Data Symposium brings together some of the leading voices on applied algorithmic ethics to discuss the latest efforts to engage with these difficult challenges.

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Keynote Address:

We are excited to welcome our keynote speaker Dr. Rumman Chowdhury, director of Twitter's ML Ethics, Transparency and Accountability (META) team. Dr. Chowdhury is a pioneer in the field of applied algorithmic ethics, creating cutting-edge socio-technical solutions for ethical, explainable and transparent AI. At Twitter, she leads a team of applied researchers and engineers to identify and mitigate algorithmic harms on the platform. Previously, she was CEO and founder of Parity, an enterprise algorithmic audit platform company. She formerly served as Global Lead for Responsible AI at Accenture Applied Intelligence. In her work as Accenture’s Responsible AI lead, she led the design of the Fairness Tool, a first-in-industry algorithmic tool to identify and mitigate bias in AI systems.

Discussants:

Immediately following Dr. Chowdhury's keynote will be reactions and conversations with Dr. Luke Stark and Dr. Ranjit Singh, as well as a Q&A session with the audience.

Dr. Luke Stark is an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Information & Media Studies (FIMS) at Western University in London, Ontario. His research focuses on the ethical, historical, and social impacts of computational technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML). Before joining FIMS, Dr. Stark was a Postdoctoral Researcher in the Fairness, Accountability, Transparency, and Ethics (FATE) Group at Microsoft Research Montreal; a Fellow and an Affiliate of the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University; and a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Sociology at Dartmouth College.

Dr. Ranjit Singh is a Postdoctoral Scholar at the AI on the Ground Initiative of Data & Society Research Institute. He studies the intersection of data infrastructures, global development, and public policy, and is currently leading a research project mapping the concepts, keywords, and everyday stories centered on data-driven interventions and AI in/from the Global South. He recently co-authored the Data & Society report "Assembling Accountability: Algorithmic Impact Assessment for the Public Interest" that maps the challenges of constructing algorithmic impact assessments (AIAs) and provides a framework for evaluating the effectiveness of current and proposed AIA regimes.

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Additional Information:

This symposium is organized by the Department of Computer Science at Marquette University in partnership with the Northwestern Mutual Data Science Institute. 

For additional information about this event, contact Dr. Michael Zimmer, Department of Computer Science, michael.zimmer@marquette.edu, 414-228-5226.

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