Beginning in 2020, the Grefenstette Center has been a pivotal place for cutting edge conversations on the ethics of technology in the Pittsburgh region, on the national landscape, and across the world. Below is a summary of our recent symposia.

2023: How Can We Create an Ethical World with Generative AI?

November 9-10, 2023

In the 2023 symposium, we examined how generative AI like ChatGPT has changed the world and what we can do to ensure an ethical future. We heard from national speakers, entered into community and expert discussions, browsed a wide variety of new research on display, and experimented with the latest generative AI apps! This event was co-sponsored by the Institute for Ethics and Integrity in Journalism and Media at Duquesne, featuring a journalism keynote on November 9. You can download the full 2023 symposium program or watch the symposium at the links below!

Thursday, Nov 9 Livestream
Friday, Nov 10 Livestream

Keynote Speakers

Rebekah Tweed, Executive Director, All Tech is Human
Alka Patel, Former Chief of Responsible AI, U.S. Dept of Defense, Joint AI Center 
Annie Newman, Director of Digital Strategy, Office of Governor Josh Shapiro, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
Patrick Lee Plaisance, PhD, Penn State
Jim Parsons, WTAE News Director
Joe Lawrence, CEO at MeSearch and General Counsel for Trib Total Media
Ted Anthony, Director of New Storytelling and Newsroom Innovations, The Associated Press
Troy Thibodeaux, PhD, Director of Digital News, The Associated Press

Student Poster Contest Winners

Graduate Student Winners

Grand Prize: Christine Sowa Lepird - Agenda-Driven Partisan Algorithms Are Creating “Local” News:Is Your Community Being Targeted? 
Honorable Mention Award: Morgan A. Gray and Kyle R. Buettner - Ethics of the Electronic: How to Understand the Behavior of Generative AI Through Rigorous Evaluation
Crowd Favorite Award: Madison Eidemueller, Taylor McClure, and Aizlynn Michel - AI in Forensic Toxicology  

Undergraduate Student Winners

Grand Prize: Kayla Kraeuter - The Ethical Analysis of a Novel Computational Research Tool to Encourage Responsibility in Tech Development   
Honorable Mention Award: Samiya Henry - AI: Artificial Ignorance in Facial Biometrics  
Honorable Mention Award: Liam Hill - Impact of AI on Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder 
Crowd Favorite Award: Lena Schneider - How Does AI Drone Technology Endanger Human Life?
Crowd Favorite Award: Adelaide Stark - Preserving Privacy in AI-Driven Healthcare  

Past Symposia

How Can Algorithms Be Ethical?

Friday, October 29, 2022

The 2022 symposium was highlighted by a conversation between Dr. Alondra Nelson, Deputy Assistant to the President, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, and Bishop Paul Tighe, Vatican Dicastery for Culture and Education. This conversation was highlighted in a followup essay in Commonweal Magazine. You can download the 2022 symposium program and you can view the details of the pre-symposium workshop on Catholic technology ethics.

WATCH THE SYMPOSIUM

Keynote Speakers

Alondra Nelson, Deputy Assistant to the President, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy
Bishop Paul Tighe, Vatican Dicastery for Culture and Education
Anima Anandkumar, Director of Machine Learning, NVIDIA; Bren Professor of Computing, Caltech
Philip Butler, Assistant Professor of Theology and Black Posthuman Artificial Intelligence Systems, Partner Director of AI Institute, Iliff School of Theology  
Abhishek Gupta, Founder and Principal Researcher at the Montreal AI Ethics Institute
Irina Raicu, Director of the Internet Ethics Program, Markkula Center for Applied Ethics, Santa Clara University
Beth Schwanke, Executive director of the University of Pittsburgh Institute for Cyber Law, Policy, and Security
David Wasieleski, Albert Paul Viragh Professor of Business Ethics in the Palumbo-Donahue School of Business at Duquesne University

Student Poster Contest Winners

Graduate Student Winners

Grand Prize: Alicia DeVos - Toward User-Driven Algorithm Auditing: Investigating Users' Strategies for Uncovering Harmful Algorithmic Behavior
Honorable Mention: David Gray Widder - Practitioner Perspectives on AI Ethics 

Undergraduate Student Winners

Grand Prize: Aine Heron, Tamara Sioui, Maria Intong, and Rachel Burkholder - Bridging the Digital Divide
Honorable Mention: Caitlyn Brannon - Clinical Ethics Seen with Machine Learning in Healthcare

DOWNLOAD A LIST OF ALL POSTERS

Biometric Ethics

Thursday, November 4, 2021 

Biometric technologies are integrated into the fabric of our lives. All with a single fingerprint or facial scan you can access everything from your heart rate to your online banking services. They are here to stay and will continue to grow in popularity as they make our lives easier, but at what cost? Duquesne’s Grefenstette annual symposium not only delved into the technological or political issues surrounding biometric technologies but also the ethical and theological implications that require further exploration.
 
Besides multiple panel sessions, in-person attendees also viewed Duquesne undergraduate and graduate student research posters and participated in one of two workshops on International Governance Ethics or Corporate Ethics.

WATCH THE SYMPOSIUM

Keynote Speakers

Reid Blackman - CEO, Virtue  
Clare Garvie - Senior Associate, Center on Privacy & Technology, Georgetown University Law Center  
Brianne Jacobs - Assistant Professor of Theology & Religious Studies at Emmanuel College  
Liz O'Sullivan - CEO, Parity 
Arun Ross - Professor; John and Eva Cillag Endowed Chair in the College of Engineering and a Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at Michigan State University 
Elizabeth Rowe - Irving Cypen Professor of Law, Distinguished Teaching Scholar, Professor of Law, Director, Program in Intellectual Property Law at University of Florida Levin College of Law 
Stephanie Schuckers - Paynter-Krigman Endowed Professor in Engineering Science / Director of the Center for Identification Technology Research (CITeR) at Clarkson University 
Andrea Vicini - Michael P. Walsh Professor of Bioethics, Professor of Moral Theology, Boston College Theology Department 

Student Poster Contest Winners

Tina Nguyen: If You Give a Mouse a Cookie: The Ethical Implications of Progressively Giving Ourselves to Biometrics 
Dina Siniora: Artificial Intelligence and Catholic Teaching Amidst the Current Pandemic

Disinformation, Misinformation and Technology: New Ethical Challenges and Solutions

Wednesday, October 7, 2020

The inaugural event for the Carl G. Grefenstette Center for Ethics in Science, Technology, and Law was a half-day symposium on Disinformation, Misinformation and Technology: New Ethical Challenges and Solutions. The symposium positioned the Center and Duquesne University in a promising collaboration with significant centers and initiatives at Carnegie Mellon University, the University of Pittsburgh, Santa Clara University, and Seattle University. The symposium convened leading thinkers from each institution to address the complex ethical challenges posed by and solutions for the problem of misinformation and disinformation.

WATCH THE SYMPOSIUM

Keynote Speakers

Kathleen Carley, Director of the Center for Computational Analysis of Social and Organizational Systems and Director of the Center for Informed Democracy and Social Cybersecurity, Carnegie Mellon University
Michael Colaresi, William S. Dietrich II Chair of Political Science and Academic Director of Pitt Cyber, University of Pittsburgh
David Danks, L.L. Thurstone Professor of Philosophy and Psychology, Carnegie Mellon University
Brian Green, Director of Technology Ethics, Markkula Center for Applied Ethics, Santa Clara University
Beth Hoffman, Center for Research on Media, Technology, and Health, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
Jane Moriarty, Carol Los Mansmann Chair in Faculty Scholarship, Duquesne University
Michael Quinn, Dean of the College of Science and Engineering and Executive Director of the Initiative in Ethics and Transformative Technologies, Seattle University
Pamela Walck, Assistant Professor of Multiplatform Journalism, Duquesne University

LINK TO FULL Schedule