MIT Ethics of Computing Research Symposium
On May 1, the Social and Ethical Responsibilities of Computing (SERC) hosted an extraordinary series of 15 thought-provoking TED-style talks exploring the intersection of technology, ethics, and social responsibility in computing. Born from MIT’s Institute-wide commitment to responsible innovation, this groundbreaking event showcased research supported by the SERC seed grant program.
Selected by a distinguished committee of 20 representatives spanning MIT’s five schools and the Schwarzman College of Computing, these talks featured cutting-edge research that addresses pressing questions in computational ethics. The unprecedented collaboration between MIT’s schools, the college, and Provost’s Office demonstrates the Institute’s unified commitment to fostering responsible technological advancement.
Through engaging presentations, speakers explored topics ranging from algorithmic bias and privacy, to the societal impacts of artificial intelligence and the future of human-computer interaction.
Main Program
The program included presentations from leading MIT researchers in the following categories.
Analytics for Fair and Efficient Kidney Transplant Allocation
Dimitris Bertsimas
Vice Provost for Open Learning; Associate Dean of Business Analytics and Boeing Professor of Operations Research
Leveraging Small Cohort Studies to Expand Insights from Diverse Genetic Ancestries
Olivia Corradin
Class of 1922 Career Development Professor, MIT Biology; Core Member, Whitehead Institute
Towards Equitable and Efficient Organ Transplantation through Longer Preservation Times
Swati Gupta
Class of 1947 Career Development Associate Professor and Associate Professor of Operations Research and Statistics
Code-Side Manner: Evaluating Generative AI’s Role in Clinician/Patient Conversations
Marzyeh Ghassemi
Associate Professor, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and Institute for Medical Engineering and Science
Aligning AI with Human Cooperative Norms
Joshua Tenenbaum
Professor of Brain and Cognitive Sciences
Designing and Evaluating Regulatory Mechanisms to Empower and Constrain AI Supply Chains
Susan Silbey
Leon and Anne Goldberg Professor of Humanities, Sociology and Anthropology; Professor of Behavioral and Policy Sciences
Information Sharing, Competition, and Collusion via Algorithms
Manish Raghavan
Drew Houston (2005) Career Development Professor, EECS and MIT Sloan
Ashia Wilson
Lister Brothers (Gordon K. ’30 and Donald K. ’34) Career Development Assistant Professor, EECS
Minimum Standard of Care for AI: Ethical Risk Assessment for Latin America
Sarah Williams
Associate Professor of Technology and Urban Planning
Labeling AI-Generated Content Online
Adam Berinsky
Mitsui Professor of Political Science
David Rand
Erwin H. Schell Professor, and Professor of Management Science and Brain and Cognitive Sciences
The Mathematics of Law-Making in the U.S.
In Song Kim
Class of 1956 Career Development Associate Professor of Political Science
Jörn Dunkel
Mathworks Professor of Mathematics
Experiments on Generative AI and the Future of Digital Democracy
Lily Tsai
Ford Professor of Political Science
Teacher Perspectives on the Arrival of Generative AI in a Watershed School Year
Justin Reich
Associate Professor, Comparative Media Studies/Writing
Empowering Blind/Low-Vision People to Conduct Interactive Data Analysis with LLM-Generated Textual Descriptions
Arvind Satyanarayan
Associate Professor, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
A Framework for Participatory Methods and Community Engagement Across the AI/ML Pipeline
Catherine D’Ignazio
Associate Professor, Urban Science and Planning
The Fairness-Efficiency Frontier in Humanitarian Immigration
Daniel Freund
Assistant Professor of Operations Management