privacy | Ethically Aligned AI

Dear Neighbour, I’m not joining Nextdoor. Here’s why:

I recently received a letter from a neighbour asking me to join Nextdoor. Actually, it wasn’t really from a neighbour. It was a form...

The algorithmic risks of ordering a cheeseburger

Until recently, the risks of ordering a cheeseburger at your local mom and pop diner might have been thought about mostly in dietary...

Robots, the cure for loneliness?

When I talk to people about AI, inevitably we land on the topic of killer robots. This image of The Terminator and other superintelligent...

Book Review: Privacy in Context

In 2010, Mark Zuckerberg famously said “the age of privacy is over”. (Kirkpatrick, 2010) He’s walked back that statement in the ensuing...

How much of my data belongs to me? The Henrietta Lacks Story

Imagine these two scenarios...you're at work and you've just polished off a latte. You throw the cup in the lunchroom garbage but...

Ethics or regulation? We need both.

I had a chance to catch two amazing presentation in the past two days - cyber-security expert Bruce Schneier and distinguished computer...

That's a wrap: Thanking my community and planning next steps

I'm thrilled to say - I am DONE! I handed in my final research paper this week and now I await graduation. I have been fortunate to have...

Conferences and pumpkin-spice lattes

It's definitely fall. The air is cooler, the leaves are turning shades of red, pumpkin-spice lattes are back and it's conference season....

Research update: collecting data, prepping for a presentation and "COVID-izing" my work

Generally when things are quiet on the blog, it means I'm really busy with my research. That's certainly been the case this past month....

Zoom, Meet or Skype? Conducting research in a time of physical distancing

My research focus is on AI researchers and how they are navigating ethical considerations in their work. I’m exploring issues around...

Walking naked through the Googleplex

I can’t take credit for the title of this post but it sums up an issue that we all face - we trade our privacy for convenience. This line...

When data knows us better than we know ourselves

A few months ago, I was enticed by a special offer from 23andMe. I'd been on the fence about genetic testing for some time. Like the...

The ethics surrounding data collection

I’ve been talking with a lot of different people - pretty much anyone who will listen – about where to focus my research. One piece of...