Cal Poly and Stanford project awarded grant for student-led technology research

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. – A collaborative project on ethical and social impacts of artificial intelligence between California Polytechnic State University and Stanford University has received a grant from the Public Interest Technology University Network.

The $89,000 grant is part of $2.3 million awarded to 18 universities and colleges with Cal Poly providing additional funding bringing the total to over $103,000 for the project.

The 'Learning Across Domains: Developing an Inclusive Pipeline of Global Experts Skilled at Examining Ethical Risks and Social Impacts of Artificial Intelligence and Advanced Technologies' project is run through the Global Alliance on Ethics and Impact of Artificial Intelligence, a global research platform.

Deb Donig, assistant professor of English, co-founder of the Cal Poly Ethical Technology Initiative and former recipient of a PIT-UN grant represented Cal Poly at the official announcement.

“At Cal Poly, we train students who will compose a new workforce, and it is vital that we build a kind of education that includes thought from a diversity of perspectives and that elevates the importance of including diverse perspectives in the imagining process,” Donig said. “We build our visions for technologies out of the stories and the perspectives we know, and we encode the passions and positions -- and biases and blind spots -- in our designs."

“For that vision to be truly better, truly ethical, it must also be equitable, inclusive and mindful of the diversity of human experiences across space and time,” Donig continued.