Research Community Development Grant: Summer Training Program to Expand the Al and Data Ethics Research Community

Northeastern University, Boston MA

Investigators

Abstract

This award supports the development of an intensive, interdisciplinary summer program to provide training for the next generation of AI and data ethics researchers by targeting doctoral students with a background in ethics. Participants will receive additional training in the philosophy and ethics of technology alongside technical training, enabling them to collaborate with AI practitioners and researchers to better integrate social and ethical considerations into AI. Program participants will learn from and be mentored by leading experts in machine learning, autonomous robotics, AI and information ethics, technology law, and other disciplines and apply their new knowledge to solve important problems in the development of AI. This project’s primary aim is contributing to societal capacity to responsibly develop and implement AI by helping to build a diverse community of AI ethics experts who will shape and build the field of AI ethics going forward. The AI and Data Ethics Training program will have three core objectives. It will increase participant’s content mastery needed to perform quality research in this area; it will provide professional development opportunities to prepare participants to conduct interdisciplinary, impactful research that reaches beyond the academy; and it will foster a collaborative and diverse community of AI and data ethics researchers. The program will accomplish these objectives through a seminar on foundational topics and current issues in AI and data ethics led by an interdisciplinary team of experts, interdisciplinary faculty support on research projects related to AI and data ethics, and participation in inter-generational and interdisciplinary mentoring groups. The training program also includes professional development workshops on how to approach public-facing scholarship, develop grant proposals, build collaborations with partners outside of academia, and practice inclusive mentoring, as well as an expert speaker series where researchers share cutting edge work, discuss career pathways, and develop connections with participants. This award was co-funded by the Ethical and Responsible Research (ER2) Program. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.