An intercollege, interdisciplinary team of NC State researchers led by humanities scholars received a $500,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities to establish an AI center in CHASS to explore the ethical implications of the technology.
The center, Embedding AI in Society Ethically (EASE), aims to facilitate interdisciplinary research — across the humanities, computer science and engineering — along with graduate training experiences. It also aims to promote public and civic engagement by creating humanities-centric collaborations with research institutions and technology companies in North Carolina’s Research Triangle area. One such planned partnership is an internship with Red Hat, the global software company headquartered in downtown Raleigh.
“NC State is at the forefront of AI research, with multiple AI institutes and academies,” says Veljko Dubljevic, professor of philosophy and science, technology and society and the project’s director and principal investigator. “AI technologies are going to change society. Whether that is for the better or worse, remains to be seen. It would be beneficial and tip the scales toward AI doing more good than bad if ethics was an equal participant in the conversation from the get-go.
“The EASE Center proposes to establish a platform for the necessary integration of humanities perspectives in these conversations and be the powerhouse behind reflection and development of ethical AI.”
Joining Dubljevic on the project team are co-directors and CHASS faculty Alice Cheng, professor of communication, and Paul Fyfe, professor of English. Other co-directors are Munindar Singh, SAS Institute Distinguished Professor of Computer Science in NC State’s College of Engineering, and Kevin Lee, the Intel Social Justice and Racial Equity Chair at NC Central University School of Law.
Additionally, other core faculty and participants in the EASE Center represent the emerging collaborations among the humanities, social sciences and STEM fields that only together can address the complexities of AI ethics.
“Ethicists are there to tell you how to be successful in what you do, and how, with a bit of think before you do, you can solve the problem in a better way.”
The project was also supported by a Data Science Academy (DSA) seed grant. DSA grants build and strengthen interdisciplinary networks among NC State researchers focused on data science and AI.
Dubljevic says the interdisciplinary research envisioned at the center involves both conceptual research associated with ethics and philosophy, and cognitive science research that deals with experimental philosophy. “We want the center to be a place of fusion, of interdisciplinary work that is broad and deep,” he adds.
The center, one of five AI research hubs recently funded by the NEH, will focus its research on “embodied and virtual agents” of AI, Dubljevic says, initially autonomous vehicles, large language models, and AI-enabled technologies for eldercare. Proposed activities include a graduate minor in AI ethics, academic conferences and special journal issues, and a postdoctoral fellow mentoring program.
“Establishing the EASE Center is a pivotal step forward in expanding the college’s research and graduate education in AI ethics,” said Deanna Dannels, dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences. “Through interdisciplinary collaborations and innovative initiatives and partnerships, the center intends to further address the ethical, legal and social issues in AI, creating a brighter future for North Carolina and beyond through the responsible development and application of the technology.”
The center’s home in CHASS makes sense given the humanities have been involved in AI since its origin in the 1960s when Dubljevic says the technology was a product of computer science, philosophy and logic.
“Ethicists are there to tell you how to be successful in what you do,” Dubljevic says, “and how, with a bit of think before you do, you can solve the problem in a better way.”
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