Faculty Presentations

Ethical Considerations in AI Research: An Examination of Elements in Current Research Projects
Dr. Guannan Liu, Department of Applied Data Science, College of Information, Data and Society

Monday, December 2, 2024, 12 -1 p.m. PT
Register here 

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is revolutionizing the development of intelligent systems, but its adoption raises significant ethical challenges for researchers. This presentation explores these ethical considerations by examining three AI-driven research projects currently in progress, in human posture recognition, indoor localization, and human-machine interfaces. Critical ethical dimensions to be explored include data privacy, fairness, and algorithmic transparency. Key challenges include addressing the ethical implications of data collection and processing, mitigating bias in decision-making, and ensuring transparency to build trust in AI systems. This discussion emphasizes the importance of aligning technological innovation with ethical accountability to foster responsible research practices. By framing these considerations within the context of real-world applications, this presentation highlights the need to balance the pursuit of innovation with the imperative to uphold societal values, contributing to the broader discussion on ethics in AI.

Sandra Hirsh Presents on The Future of Libraries 
Gleaning off key themes from her book Library 2035: Imagining the Next Generation of Libraries, Sandra Hirsh, Associate Dean for Academics at the College of Information, Data and Society, will be speaking at the following events. 

  • January 24, 2024 - Greater Opportunities for Leadership Development
    Hirsh will speak to a leadership development cohort of 14 middle managers about the future of libraries.
  • February 25, 2025 - North American Virtual Reference Online Conference
    Hirsh will offer the keynote titled "The Next Generation of Libraries: Looking Ahead to Library 2035".

Recent Library 2035 presentations include:

  • October 24, 2024 - Internet Librarian Connect
    Hirsh, along with various thought leaders/authors of Library 2035, continued the discussion about the future of libraries and spark ideas about creating exciting new library structures, services, programs and more.
  • October 31, 2024 - Future Trends Forum
    Dr. Hirsh discussed Library 2035 and the future of higher education.
  • November 7, 2024 - Library Journal's Directors' Summit
    Hirsh highlighted key themes from Library 2035 in the keynote presentation.
  • November 13, 2024 - 49th Assembly of the Croatian Library Association
    Hirsh offered a keynote titled "The Next Generation of Libraries: Looking Ahead to Library 2035".

IDEA in Action: Your Voices Best Practices – Empowering Students, Building Bridges
iSchool students Kara Price and Laura Dowell, along with Associate Professor Dr. Michele Villagran, presented IDEA in Action: Your Voices Best Practices – Empowering Students, Building Bridges, at the Library Marketing and Communications Conference 2024 on Nov. 14, 2024.

Dr. Ghosh at the ASIS&T Annual Meeting 2024
iSchool Assistant Professor, Dr. Souvick Ghosh, participated in a panel discussions and workshops at the ASIS&T Annual Meeting 2024 in October, including: 

  • Annual Workshop on Social Media Research, Challenges and Opportunities
  • Social Media and Crisis Informatics Research in LIS (SIG-SM)
  • AI4LIS: Towards a Research Agenda

Simon Shim Presents at the AI Summit
Simon Shim, Professor and Chair of the Department of Applied Data Science, presented a session on Building and Evaluation of AI Assistants with RAG and Finetuning at the AI Summit and participated in a panel discussion on AI in Education at the AI Summit on October 27, 2024. 

  • Building and Evaluation of AI Assistants with RAG and Finetuning 
    Drawing from key insights from his research, Shim shared experiences from building and evaluating AI assistants. He discussed findings from various approaches and evaluation results of their impact on the relevance, similarity and accuracy of AI responses.
  • Panel Presentation on AI in Education
    Shim participated on a panel with Peter Norvig with HAI and Sadid Hasan with Microsoft on AI in Education. The session was moderated by Walter Greenleaf, PhD. from Stanford.