Public Interest Technology & Responsive Government

Ethics Lab director Prof. Maggie Little recently participated in a panel discussion on emerging technologies and the ethical questions their use in government raises. The panel, “Creating a Responsive Government,” part of a conference hosted by New America, was moderated by Hana Schank, New America’s Director of Strategy for Public Interest Technology, and included Professors Ashley Labosier of Pepperdine University, Larry Susskind from MIT, and Latanya Sweeney of Harvard University. 

Panelists discussed the strengths and pitfalls of data use, and the responsibility of data practitioners to defend public privacy and trust. They proposed methods of ethical problem solving and emphasized the value of community consultation in designing and implementing programming in government spaces.

“There’s potential for social good in new data solutions, and there’s potential for peril,” said Little. “It’s critical that those working on data analytics solutions understand that they are ethical stewards of privacy, justice, and trust.”

Little pointed to Ethics Lab’s grant-funded workshop series with Georgetown’s Center for Security and Emerging Technologies (CSET) as an example of this work. Through the workshops, fellows from CSET, Tech Congress, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) are presented with real-world scenarios and taught how to think ethically about them.

“We know that leaders in government, whether state and local or at the federal level, are being asked to make decisions about whether to deploy certain technologies, despite there being a lack of ethical norms and consensus about them,” said Little. “We ask ourselves: What’s the difference between calling people out and calling people in? How do you start building moral conversations around these tough decisions?”

The series is funded by the Public Interest Technology University Network (PIT-UN). PIT-UN is a partnership of 21 colleges and universities convening thanks to theFord Foundation, Hewlett Foundation, and New America. The first workshop was held in March of this year and focused on making AI systems more just. The next workshop is scheduled for November 20th and will examine the ethics of AI in a national security context.