On Monday, the Digital Ethics Center hosted the first of 10 workshops highlighting the nature and ethics of artificial intelligence.
Kalina Brookfield
2:03 am, Sep 11, 2024
Contributing Reporter
YuLin Zhen, Photography Editor
In response to the growing presence of artificial intelligence and technology in everyday life, Yale’s Digital Ethics Center is seeking to increase awareness with a new workshop series on the digital revolution.
Monday marked the first in a series of 10 workshops on digital ethics led by Luciano Floridi, professor of practice in cognitive science and founding director of the Yale Digital Ethics Center, and co-sponsored by the Schmidt Program on Artificial Intelligence, Emerging Technologies, and National Power. Each 75-minute weekly meeting introduces a key topic in the broad field of digital ethics, with a focus on the nature and ethics of AI, digital sovereignty and the relationship between environmental and digital issues.
“I consider this digital revolution as significant and of a magnitude that can be compared to the Industrial Revolution,” said Floridi when asked about the importance of the subject. “I understand that every generation thinks it’s a revolution, but sometimes it is the American Revolution, it is the French Revolution and sometimes it’s the digital revolution. Sometimes it is special. What I’m recommending to anyone with interest is this: bypass the moment of self doubt. We are living at a special moment in human history.”
According to Floridi, the goal of the workshop series is to convince attendees that they are living through a digital revolution that will be a turning point in history, and that they can have an active part in determining the direction of the future if they are willing to devote their time and skill towards the cause. He said that the mission of the Digital Ethics Center is to research the governance, ethical, legal and social implications of digital innovation.
Ultimately, Floridi said that the goal is for attendees to feel a call to action to pursue that same mission by the end of the series. The workshop also aims to give attendees a basic level of understanding of the field and the tools they will need in order to contribute to the global conversation.
The first workshop introduced attendees to the concepts of intuition, lenses and levels of abstraction. Floridi discussed ethics and philosophy as much as he did technology, emphasizing that in abstract topics without easy definitions — such as digital ethics — reaching meaningful conclusions requires a level of precision and explicitness that can be painstaking at times but ultimately essential.
The News spoke with three attendees following the workshop. Attendees expressed various reasons for attending the workshops.
“Last year, my own data in the school system was compromised when one of the education technology companies that the New York City D.O.E. works with was breached,” Tina Zeng ’28, a first year studying global affairs said.
Zeng said that her personal experience witnessing digital ethics fall short, combined with an interest in artificial intelligence and internet-based consumerism, drove her to join the introductory workshop.
Alma Fitzgerald ’26, a junior also studying global affairs, heard about the series from her professor. She went into the first workshop hoping to learn more about artificial intelligence and its implications in her major.
The series hopes to spark multidisciplinary interest and is open to participants of all levels of expertise. All Yale affiliates, including postdoctoral, graduate, professional and undergraduate students as well as faculty, were welcome.
“I think it is fascinating to see how professionals from different fields view and tackle these ethical dilemmas,” said Chenghao Sun, a visiting scholar at the Paul Tsai China Center of Yale Law School. “So generally speaking, the workshop really reinforced the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration in solving this complex issue.”
Workshops are held every Monday from 5:00 to 6:15 p.m and registration opens each week on the preceding Tuesday, and operates on a first-come, first-serve basis.
