Responsible AI Learning Cohort: Session 3- Power to the Public: The Promise and Emerging Dangers of Public Interest Technology

Series Overview: GradFUTURES is pleased to offer Responsible AI learning cohort in Fall 2024 in partnership with Center for Information Technology Policy (CITP) and Princeton University Press (PUP). Led by graduate students, this learning cohort leverages expertise of Princeton’s faculty, graduate students, staff and alumni, and external partners. The cohort will discuss and examine realities of Responsible AI principles: fairness, inclusiveness, transparency, reliability and safety, privacy and security, and accountability in diverse fields through guest speakers, case studies and immersive capstone. Upon successful completion of learning cohort, graduate students will receive a co-curricular certificate of completion and a micro-credential badge.

Responsible AI dimensions. We will follow the definition and dimensions of Responsible AI as outlined by Microsoft. "Responsible AI is an approach to developing, assessing, and deploying AI systems in a safe, trustworthy, and ethical way. It's a framework for building AI systems according to six principles: fairness, reliability and safety, privacy and security, inclusiveness, transparency, and accountability."

Session Description: As the speed and complexity of the world increases, governments and nonprofit organizations need new ways to effectively tackle the critical challenges of our time. Generative AI, increasing global instability, and faltering economies have demonstrated just how ill-equipped our existing organs are for the modern world. Hana Schank will discuss public interest technology, an emerging field that has the potential to transform the way governments and nonprofits around the world solve problems.

At its heart, public interest technology means putting users at the center of the policymaking process, using data and metrics in a smart way, and running small experiments and pilot programs before scaling up. But without rigorous problem definition grounded in ethical thinking, public interest technology has the capacity to cause great harm. Schank will discuss historical and present-day examples of problem definition gone awry, sharing new insights since authoring Power to the Public.

Review of Power to the Public
“Worth a read for anyone who cares about making change happen.”—Barack Obama

Guest Speaker: Hana Schank, co-author of Power to the Public (Princeton University Press); Director of Strategy for Public Interest Technology at New America.

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