INTERDISCIPLINARY CENTER FOR BIOETHICS: TECHNOLOGY & ETHICS WORKING GROUP
Abstract: In the growing wake of omnipresent media messages about ChatGPT and Generative AI, most articles focus on an “us versus them” narrative reminding humans they can or will be “beat” by technology framed primarily as valuable for increasing productivity, speed, and aggregated information. Where any technology is billed as “AI for Good,” the question of what’s being measured, prioritized and valued to mean “responsible design” is often solely in the eye of the creator. User values, data and identity along with planetary ecosystem flourishing must be accounted for (literally and figuratively) at the outset of design and in accountable ways throughout a product, service or system’s entire life cycle as the new norms for long-term equitable value for all. John C. Havens will lead us through a conversation about what it means to take full account of humanity in light of the lightening-fast changes in AI.
BIO: Bachelor of Arts, History, Messiah University (1991); Bachelor of Arts, Theater, Messiah University (1991). John C. Havens is Lead of the Sustainability Practice of the IEEE Standards Association where he drives the strategy, coordination, and vision for The IEEE SA Planet Positive 2030 Program. He is also Executive Director of The IEEE Global Initiative on Ethics of Autonomous and Intelligent Systems which was responsible for the creation and iteration of a body of work known as Ethically Aligned Design: A Vision for Prioritizing Human Well-being with Autonomous and Intelligent Systems that was utilized by the United Nations, the OECD, IBM and dozens of organizations to create their AI principles, policies, and technology. John was the Founding Chair of the Standard IEEE 7000-2020 focused on prioritizing end user values at the outset of design for AI and IEEE 7010-2020 that provides a “societal impact assessment” for AI and technology overall with a focus on human wellbeing. Previously, John was an EVP of Social Media at PR Firm, Porter Novelli, led Business Development at BlogTalkRadio, and was a professional actor for over 15 years. He has written for Mashable and The Guardian and is author of the books, Heartificial Intelligence: Embracing Our Humanity To Maximize Machines and Hacking Happiness: Why Your Personal Data Counts and How Tracking it Can Change the World. For more information, follow John on LinkedIn or @johnchavens on twitter. John currently has over ninety citations on Research Gate and dozens of articles for outlets such as The Guardian, Quartz, IEEE Spectrum and Mashable.
Please email Working Group Chair Joe Carvalko to receive an event announcement with the link to join on Zoom.
The Technology and Ethics study group examines crucial societal, ethical, and public policy questions arising from the adoption of new technologies. To subscribe to the mailing list for this group, please visit https://mailman.yale.edu/mailman/listinfo/techethics.