AI4Society Dialogues

Can we teach AI to learn from it’s own experiences? That’s the premise behind reinforcement learning. Dr. Rich Sutton in a University of Alberta Professor in computer science and one of the leading figures in AI research today. We talk about the early days of his career, why he chose to make the University of Alberta his academic home, the benefits of not chasing fads and the importance of an interdisciplinary AI research community. We also explore reinforcement learning and how it shifts not only the ways in which we develop AI, but also how we might think about our relationship with AI.

“The data a reinforcement learning agent uses the data it generates itself...you’re an (AI) agent, you’ve done some things, you’ve seen some things, it’s your data...that’s what you learn from (in reinforcement learning).” - Rich Sutton

Dr. Rich Sutton is a distinguished research scientist at DeepMind, a professor in the department of computing science at the University of Alberta and a Fellow of the Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute (Amii). He is one of the pioneers of reinforcement learning and co-authored the textbook Reinforcement Learning: An Introduction. His research interests center on the learning problems facing a decision-maker interacting with its environment, which he sees as central to artificial intelligence.

AI4Society Dialogues is a co-production between AI4Society, a signature research area at the University of Alberta and the Kule Institute for Advanced Research (KIAS), an endowed institute at the University of Alberta that supports research in the social sciences, humanities and fine arts.

Host: Katrina Ingram, Founder and CEO, Ethically Aligned AI
Technical Producer: Corey Stroeder
Special thanks to Dr. Scott Smallwood and the Sound Studies Institute at the University of Alberta for providing recording space.
Theme music: “Seeing the Future” by Dexter Britain

Dr. Eleni Stroulia, Professor, Computer Science and Director, AI4Society
Dr. Geoffrey Rockwell, Professor, Philosophy and Digital Humanities, Director, Kule Institute and co-Director, AI4Society
Copyright 2020 University of Alberta. All rights reserved.

How can we use the tools of big data, networks and an understanding of our digital infrastructure to shed light on power relationships and inequities? In her work as a digital humanities scholar, Dr. Deb Verhoeven is enlisting machine learning to redress the persistent domination of power elites. Her unique approaches include using criminal network analysis to identify “gender offenders” and expose “Daversity”. She’s also pioneering a new type of intervention she calls “digital infrapuncture”. We talk about big data, AI, networks, digital infrastructure, search and why Richard Davidson just might be the best name to have if you’re looking for funding.
“People think of big data as having something to with size, but size is relative. Big data stretches us to the limits of what we’re capable of…if you’re not having an existential crisis….it’s not big. Big data implicates us.” - Deb Verhoeven
Dr. Deb Verhoeven is a Professor at the University of Alberta and holds the Canada150 Research Chair in Gender and Cultural Informatics. She’s also the Director of the Humanities Networked Infrastructure (HuNI) Project and was previously Associate Dean of Engagement and Innovation in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS), University of Technology Sydney (UTS). Her research interest lies in extending the limits of conventional film studies; exploring the intersection between cinema studies and other disciplines such as history, information management, geo-spatial science, statistics, urban studies and economics.

Increasingly, automated systems are being used to aid in the delivery of important social service programs. Dr. Jennifer Raso’s work in the area of administrative law focuses on the relationship of human and non-human collaboration on institutional decision making and the resulting legal and ethical outcomes. We talk about the challenges in delivering government programs when “people’s lives are not drop down menus”. We explore how procuring and building these systems is an area for innovation and how layering AI onto the mix introduces further complexity. We also take a critical look at efficiency and cost savings and examine if technology really delivers on these promises.

“AI adds an additional layer onto what is already a situation that is hard to entangle...the focus on the AI piece obscures what is already happening.” - Jennifer Raso

Dr. Jennifer Raso is an Assistant Professor at the University of Alberta’s Faculty of Law, where she studies the relationship between discretion, data-driven technologies, and administrative law. She is particularly interested in how humans/non-humans collaborate and diverge as they produce institutional decisions, and the consequences of this arrangement for procedural fairness and substantive justice.

AI4Society Dialogues is a co-production between AI4Society, a signature research area at the University of Alberta and the Kule Institute for Advanced Research (KIAS), an endowed institute at the University of Alberta that supports research in the social sciences, humanities and fine arts.

Host: Katrina Ingram, Founder and CEO, Ethically Aligned AI
Technical Producer: Corey Stroeder
Special thanks to Dr. Scott Smallwood and the Sound Studies Institute at the University of Alberta for providing recording space.
Theme music: “Seeing the Future” by Dexter Britain

Dr. Eleni Stroulia, Professor, Computer Science and Director, AI4Society
Dr. Geoffrey Rockwell, Professor, Philosophy and Digital Humanities, Director, Kule Institute and co-Director, AI4Society
Copyright 2020 University of Alberta. All rights reserved.

How people respond to artificial intelligence depends on their perceptions of whether or not AI is to be trusted, the context in which they encounter AI and, in the case of robots, how the AI looks. Dr. Noah Castelo, a behavioural scientist whose expertise and research into psychology and consumer behaviour are providing deeper insights into the question of how humans will relate to AI. We talk about the uncanny valley of “creepy” human-like robots, how robots are being used in customer service and how perceptions around the future use of AI in the workplace are shaping career choices for students.

“There are two big attitudes driving perception of (AI) technology...usefulness and comfort and on both we’re not quite there yet...there are major obstacles.” - Noah Castelo

Dr. Noah Castelo is an Assistant Professor in the faculty of business at the University of Alberta. As a behavioral scientist, he studies the human side of AI, focusing on questions that relate to human interactions with AI systems and how growing awareness of AI in general changes how humans treat each other.

AI4Society Dialogues is a co-production between AI4Society, a signature research area at the University of Alberta and the Kule Institute for Advanced Research (KIAS), an endowed institute at the University of Alberta that supports research in the social sciences, humanities and fine arts.

Host: Katrina Ingram, Founder and CEO, Ethically Aligned AI
Technical Producer: Corey Stroeder
Special thanks to Dr. Scott Smallwood and the Sound Studies Institute at the University of Alberta for providing recording space.
Theme music: “Seeing the Future” by Dexter Britain

Dr. Eleni Stroulia, Professor, Computer Science and Director, AI4Society
Dr. Geoffrey Rockwell, Professor, Philosophy and Digital Humanities, Director, Kule Institute and co-Director, AI4Society
Copyright 2020 University of Alberta. All rights reserved.

The use of artificial intelligence across many high risk domains is raising many ethical questions. This includes issues around privacy and biases in data as well as questions about equity and inclusion. Dr. Nidhi Hegde is an Assistant Professor at the University of Alberta whose work is helping to drive new approaches in differential privacy. We talk about the challenges in managing data for privacy, as well as times when we might want to securely share our data. We also dive into the topic of gender and equity with personal insights on being a female AI researcher and how to foster greater participation and inclusion.

“The general public might think it’s a far off, futuristic idea, but in fact it’s all around us...and I think there needs to be a greater data literacy... It’s not Terminator, but it is that search algorithm...there’s this sense of a sort of mystical idea about AI...and I wish that people would understand... it’s a technology and it can be used for many purposes just like any technology. ” - Nidhi Hegde

Dr. Nidhi Hegde is an Associate Professor in the department of Computing Science at the University of Alberta. Recently she had been a Research team lead at Borealis AI. Her research interests lie in probabilistic modelling and algorithmic design of machine learning for networks and systems. She has particular interest in privacy and ethics of AI.

AI4Society Dialogues is a co-production between AI4Society, a signature research area at the University of Alberta and the Kule Institute for Advanced Research (KIAS), an endowed institute at the University of Alberta that supports research in the social sciences, humanities and fine arts.

Host: Katrina Ingram, Founder and CEO, Ethically Aligned AI
Technical Producer: Corey Stroeder
Special thanks to Dr. Scott Smallwood and the Sound Studies Institute at the University of Alberta for providing recording space.
Theme music: “Seeing the Future” by Dexter Britain

Dr. Eleni Stroulia, Professor, Computer Science and Director, AI4Society
Dr. Geoffrey Rockwell, Professor, Philosophy and Digital Humanities, Director, Kule Institute and co-Director, AI4Society
Copyright 2020 University of Alberta. All rights reserved.