Panel discussion: a collective questioning about quantum ethics

Posted on by Sarah Roe

Click here to hear a recording (podcast) of the event!

Event time: Thursday, September 26, 2024 – 4:00pm to 5:00pm

Audience: Faculty, students, staff, researchers, community members, general public.

Location: Southern Connecticut State University – Engleman Hall – Room A120 See map 

Panelists  

Colleen Bielitz  Assoc. VP for Strategic Initiatives & Outreach, SCSU

Florian Carle  Managing Director, Yale Quantum Institute

Matthew Enjalran Professor of Physics, SCSU

Rye Howard-Stone Lecturer of Contemporary Issues in Computer Science and Engineering,  UConn 

Sarah M. Roe (moderator) Director, Research Center on Values in Emerging Science and Technology, SCSU

The panel will be followed by a reception to continue the conversation.

As quantum technology advances rapidly, it is crucial to consider its ethical implications. While quantum applications hold the potential to transform industries, they also pose significant moral challenges. Quantum computers, for instance, could dismantle current encryption methods, jeopardizing data privacy and cybersecurity. Their ability to solve complex problems at unprecedented speeds might create unfair advantages in sectors like finance or defense, further deepening existing inequalities. By addressing these ethical concerns early, we can ensure that quantum technology develops in ways that uphold fairness, privacy, and security for all.

Join us for a discussion hosted by the Research Center on Values in Emerging Science and Technology and the Yale Quantum Institute, with co-sponsorship from QuantumCT, as we explore the insights that experts in quantum technology, ethics, and strategic initiatives can bring to the conversation on quantum ethics. Our goal is to begin formulating approaches to navigate this intricate issue.

The Research Center on Values in Emerging Science and Technology, focuses on issues located at the intersection of science and values as implemented in emerging technologies, such as issues regarding scientific values, computing technology, scientific technologies, scientific practices and human values. https://rcvest.southernct.edu/ 

An Hour with an Expert: Dr. Elena Tej Grewal

Posted on by Sarah Roe

Check out our very first installment of An Hour with An Expert hosted by the Research Center on Values in Emerging Science and Technology!

An Hour with an Expert: Dr. Elena Tej Grewal

SCSU Professors Dr. Roe (History) and Dr. Antonios (Computer Science) team up to ask today’s leading science and industry experts important contemporary questions.

Dr. Elena Tej Grewal is a data scientist, small businesswoman, nationally cited education expert and multi-racial progressive leader. As Head of Data Science at Airbnb, Dr. Grewal was a force for change, helping lead efforts to close a gender pay gap and end discrimination against Black customers. Now, Dr. G hopes to tackle inequities in New Haven’s health, wealth, education and public safety head-on.

Click on this link to learn from our discussion!

Learn more about Data Science!

Event Supported By:

The Research Center on Values in Emerging Science and Technology

SCSU STEM-IL

SCSU Department of History

SCSU Department of Computer Science

SCSU Data Science Program

The Persistence of Race in Scientific Research

Posted on by Sarah Roe

Thursday, February 18, 2021 6:00PM

Straight Talk: The Persistence of Race in Scientific Research | Connecticut Science Center (ctsciencecenter.org)

Click here for a free recording of the event!

Straight Talk: The Persistence of Race in Scientific Research

Join us for another amazing, interactive discussion on some of today’s hottest topics lead by our esteemed panel of guests. This conversation between philosophers and scientists will not only interrogate some of the enduring ideologies of race in America but also some of the reasons behind its continued resonance within the scientific community, largely in the field of genetic research.

Guests Include:

The Black National Anthem will be performed by Shades of Yale.

Melissa Garafola, Connecticut Science Center
Genomics Educator

Sarah M. Roe, PhD, Southern Connecticut State University
Director of the Research Center on Values in Emerging Science and Technology

Cleo Rolle, PhD, Capital Community College
Assistant Professor, Biotechnology Program Coordinator

Quayshawn Spencer, PhD, University of Pennsylvania
Robert S. Blank Presidential Associate Professor of Philosophy

Keitra Thompson, DNP, MSN, FNP-BC, Yale School of Medicine
Postdoctoral Fellow, National Clinician Scholars Program/VA Advanced Fellowship Program

Ethics, Information, and Our “It-from-Bit” Universe

Posted on by Sarah Roe

Ethics, Information, and Our “It-from-Bit” Universe

Author: Terrell Ward Bynum
Southern Connecticut State University

Click here for the full text!

The essence of the Computer Revolution is found in the nature of a computer itself. What is revolutionary about computers is logical malleability.
James H. Moor 1985

It from bit . . . every particle, every field of force, even the spacetime continuum itself . . . derives its function, its meaning, its very existence from [bits].
John Archibald Wheeler 1990

Abstract: Using information technology, humans have brought about the “Information Revolution,” which is changing the world faster and more profoundly than ever before, and generating an enormous number of ethical “policy vacuums”. How is this possible? An answer is suggested by ideas from James Moor regarding “logical malleability,” in his classic paper “What is Computer Ethics?” (1985) The present essay combines Moor’s ideas with the hypothesis that all physical entities — including spacetime and the universe as a whole — are dynamic data structures. To show the usefulness of taking such an approach, in both physics and in computer ethics, a suggested “it-from-bit” model of the universe is briefly sketched, and relevant predictions are offered about the future of computer and information ethics.

Event: Rules for Robots: Ethics & Artificial Intelligence

Posted on by Sarah Roe

Dr. Katleen Gabriels

Thursday, December 5, 3:15 Engleman A120

Abstract: Google’s search engine, Facebook’s News Feed, Amazon’s Echo: many of our everyday technologies contain Artificial Intelligence (AI). Autonomous robotic vacuum cleaners and robot lawn mowers help us at home, robotic surgical systems perform operations, and therapy chatbots such as Woebot are always ready to ‘listen’. We can even delegate moral decision making to Artificial Moral Agents.   The combination of robots and AI leads to numerous possibilities, which, in turn, also raise compelling ethical questions. Which decisions do we delegate to machines and which preferably not? And how and from ‘whom’ do self-learning AI systems actually learn?

Dr. Katleen Gabriels is a moral philosopher, specialized in computer ethics. She works as an Assistant Professor at Maastricht University, The Netherlands. She researches the relations and co-shapings between morality and contemporary technologies.  In October, her new book on technology ethics was published; the English version will be published early 2020 (Rules for Robots. Ethics & Artificial Intelligence, VUBPRESS).

Contact: Richard Volkman, volkmanr1@southernct.edu