What are the ethics of artificial intelligence? How will historians look back at the development phase of this new technology? What will the long-term impact be on our society as governments embrace these tools? These are the types of questions that will be investigated by the College of Letters & Science’s new Center for Humanistic Inquiry into AI and Uncertainty.
“We’re going through this huge seismic shift that will have massive impacts on the way we work, the way we live and on all aspects of human life and society,” says Grant Nelsestuen, associate dean for arts and humanities in L&S and a professor of classics. “We’re applying those basic questions that the humanities are so good at asking to come up with creative, novel and important new ways of thinking about and helping to shape the development and deployment of these technologies.”
Nelsestuen is co-leading this project along with Steven Nadler, a Vilas Research Professor of Philosophy and William H. Hay II Professor. The two have brought together a team of 12 dynamo researchers who are looking at the rise of AI from every humanistic angle. And the team has reason to celebrate. The National Endowment for the Humanities just awarded them a competitive grant that will open up opportunities to propel this research forward.
“It’s the result of a lot of hard work by some really incredible and brilliant people working in the humanities, on data and AI issues, ethics, risks, harms and those fields of study,” Nelsestuen says about the three-year grant, which will provide $500,000 plus federal matching funds up to $220,000.
The grant acknowledges the need for this type of research, as society continues to advance and embrace AI technology.
What excites the co-director most about the opportunity to get this center up and running is the talented minds on the team. The idea to pursue this research center came together after Nelsestuen realized just how many L&S researchers were investigating AI, and he had a vision to get all of them talking. This is thanks in part to efforts like UW–Madison’s RISE-AI, which has encouraged research around artificial intelligence and machine learning.
In addition to the two co-leaders, here’s who’s on the roster for the center:
- Annette Zimmermann (Assistant Professor of Philosophy): Steering committee member specializing in the philosophy of AI and machine learning
- Clinton Castro (Assistant Professor in the Information School): Steering committee member specializing in information/data ethics and fair machine learning
- James Goodrich (Assistant Professor of Philosophy): Steering committee member specializing in political philosophy of technology
- Devin Kennedy (Assistant Professor of History and Evelyn and Herbert Howe-Bascom Professor of Integrated Liberal Studies): Steering committee member specializing in history of computing and AI
- Jeremy Morris (Professor of Communication Arts): Steering committee member specializing in media and cultural studies
- Florence Hsia (David Hall & Margie Devereaux Professor of History of Physical Sciences, Associate Vice Chancellor for Research in Arts and Humanities, and Associate Dean of Graduate Education): Advisory board member
- Kristin Eschenfelder (Academic Associate Dean for Computer, Data & Information Sciences): Advisory board member
- Alan Rubel (Professor in the Information School): Advisory board member specializing in information ethics, policy and law
- Russ Castronovo (Tom Paine Professor of English, Hilldale Professor of the Humanities, and Director of the Center for the Humanities): Advisory board member
- David Pavelich (Associate Dean for Special Collections and Collection Strategy, UW–Madison Libraries): Advisory board member
In addition to this grant, Nelsestuen also wants to thank the College of Letters & Science, the Office of the Provost, the Office of Vice Chancellor for Research, the Graduate School, the Institute for Research in the Humanities, the Center for the Humanities, UW–Madison Libraries and the Data Science Institute for their support of the center.
“It’s really exciting that we’re going to have this center as an enduring component of the UW–Madison community and for those who are working in arts and humanities, and for those working outside of it, as well,” Nelsestuen says. “This is emblematic of the sort of creative, dynamic and wide-ranging thinking that you know is characteristic of UW–Madison, its faculty, its students and its alumni.”