Schedule: http://www.bu.edu/hic/2017/12/08/mellon-sawyer-seminar-march/

Ethics and law are implicated in efforts to make the design and implementation of algorithms accountable. Philosophical questions arise at the start: how do the notions of responsibility, jurisdiction, accountability, bias, abuse, and authority figure in a new world of technology, where mixed responsibility among a variety of actors, as well as evolution of systems of information over time, is the new normal? If a set of parameters are used, e.g., in sentencing guidelines, what are we to say and do if a) a longstanding underpowered group suffers differentially or if b) a newly emergent effected group, not recognized as such before, comes before our eyes? How are data on, e.g., gender inequity in pay to be aggregated across a wide range of institutions without incurring legal liability on the part of institutions that house that aggregation and/or violating privacy norms? How is responsibility to be negotiated, even in cases where there is no theoretical way to engineer disaggregation? How may cryptography help engineer openness and inclusion---and how may it provide a backdoor for the end user to run around traditional realms of authority and jurisdiction? How might individuals be incentivized over time to share information of a “private” sort and then have it de-linked or buried? What can be done about cyber-abuse of individuals? Who should decide answers to these questions? Professor Susan Schneider (Philosophy, Cognitive Science University of Connecticut; Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, NY Ethics and Technology Group, Yale Interdisciplinary Center for Bioethics) will speak at a Thursday public event followed by a Friday triple rountable of faculty from the Boston area (limited seating, a call for participation will go out to BU and Boston-area faculty). Co-sponsored with Rafik B. Hariri Institute of Computing. The three roundtable themes will be: Algorithms in the Criminal Adjudicative Process, Privacy and AI and the Internet of Things. Mellon visitors will join Boston University Faculty in a discussion of frontiers in this important set of areas.

See the call for participation: http://www.bu.edu/hic/2017/12/08/mellon-sawyer-seminar-march/