Why AI? Tech needs ethics now more than ever, Nazareth is answering that call

In this episode: Big news from Nazareth College. We’ve formed the Institute for Technology, Artificial Intelligence, and Society (ITAS), a pioneering initiative in higher education to train future professionals to guide and develop technology toward equitable and just ends.

Guests:

Dianne Oliver, Ph.D., is co-director of the Nazareth College Institute for Technology, AI, and Society (ITAS), and since 2015 has been dean of the College of Arts & Sciences. Her background includes degrees in both computer science and in religion and ethics, deeply connecting her experience and work to this initiative at Naz.

Yousuf George, Ph.D., is the other ITAS co-director and associate to the president for strategy and momentum. He joined the College in 2008 as a faculty member in the Mathematics Department and later served as the associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.

Wendy Norris, Ph.D., is an assistant professor and founding faculty member for ITAS. Wendy’s doctorate is in information science from the University of Colorado Boulder. She brings expertise in the design of humanitarian crisis response technologies to her teaching and research. She joined the Mathematics Department in 2020 to help launch Nazareth’s new ethical data science major. 

Chelsea Wahl, Ph.D. — another founding faculty member for ITAS — joined Nazareth’s Sociology & Anthropology Department as an assistant professor of sociology in 2020. She earned her bachelor’s degree in sociology from Hamilton College and her doctorate from University of Pennsylvania. She specializes in technology, inequality, work, and organizations.

Student Nate Ancona ‘21 is a senior majoring in business management and a four-year member of the swim team. He is currently taking several ITAS courses that explore programming, AI, and the ethical and societal impacts of technology and is looking at graduate schools.

Book mentioned in the podcast: Automating Inequality by Virginia Eubanks