Computing for the People: Ethics and AI

Melissa Nobles, Kenan Sahin Dean of the MIT School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences and a professor of Political Science offers an introduction to a session on “Computing for the People: Ethics and AI” at the celebration of the MIT Stephen A. Schwarzman College of Computing. Thomas L. Friedman, foreign affairs columnist at The New York Times and author of Thank You for Being Late, moderates a panel on ethics featuring Ursula Burns, executive chairman and CEO of VEON, Ltd; Ash Carter, director of the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at the Harvard Kennedy School and former US Secretary of Defense; Jennifer Chayes, technical fellow and managing director of Microsoft Research New England, New York City, and Montreal; Joi Ito, director of the MIT Media Lab; Megan Smith, founder and CEO of shift7 and former US Chief Technology Officer; and Darren Walker, president of the Ford Foundation.

This historic three-day event provided a thoughtful, wide-ranging exploration of the ideas behind the founding of the MIT Schwarzman College of Computing and the frontiers it intends to reach.

The MIT Schwarzman College of Computing, made possible by a $350 million foundational gift from the chairman, CEO, and co-founder of Blackstone, marks the single largest investment in computing and AI by an American academic institution, and it will help position the United States to lead the world in preparing for the rapid evolution of computing and AI.

In fields far beyond engineering and science — from political science and urban studies to anthropology and linguistics — some of today’s most exciting new research is fueled by advanced computational capabilities. The MIT Schwarzman College of Computing will create the next generation of highly trained computational thinkers and doers who can offer the world the cultural, ethical, and historical consciousness to use technology for the common good. (Learn more: https://helloworld.mit.edu/about/)

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